France backs pesticide bill as environment minister says she will resign

France's parliament backed a bill allowing the return of two pesticides that critics say harm bees, while Environment Minister Monique Barbut said she would resign.

Barbut told aides that, in her mind, she had no option but to present her resignation. She said she intended to submit it to President Emmanuel Macron by early Wednesday.

The right-leaning Senate approved the bill on Tuesday evening by 214 votes to 111. The National Assembly approved the legislation earlier on Tuesday.

The bill concerns acetamiprid and flupyradifurone. The insecticides have been forbidden in France since 2018 and 2019 respectively, but are allowed in the European Union. Supporters say French sugar beet, apple and hazelnut farmers need them to compete with farmers elsewhere in Europe. Opponents say the pesticides are dangerous to bees and human health.

Senator Laurent Duplomb, who championed an earlier bill on the issue, said lawmakers should be proud of the work done. Greenpeace said after the National Assembly vote that the government and its allies were disregarding science, health, the environment and public opinion. Henri Clement of the French Beekeeping Union told regional outlet Ici Gard Lozere that the measure was absolutely catastrophic.

The Constitutional Council, France's highest court, last year struck down a provision in another bill seeking to reintroduce acetamiprid, saying it posed risks to human health. More than two million people had signed a petition against that measure.

Research has found that acetamiprid can poison honeybees, affecting their foraging capacity and memory. A 2024 study suggested flupyradifurone could be lethal to some bees.

Most left-wing lawmakers in the lower house voted against reintroducing the two pesticides this week, but support from the far right and many centrists allowed the measure to pass. The left said it would appeal to the Constitutional Council if the Senate approved the measure.

Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard defended the bill as needed to respond to farmer discontent after protests this winter. She said health authorities would only approve use of the pesticides in certain areas and for limited periods if there was no impact on human health or the environment, if there was an emergency situation and if there was no alternative.