A heated incident occurred at the Senate during a press conference dedicated to a briefing note by the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (OPECST) on acetamiprid, a pesticide at the heart of the debates on the emergency agriculture bill.
According to the information provided, this note, which was intended to present scientific work on the effects and risks of this substance for the environment and health, was not adopted following a tied vote of six votes to six.
Facing this deadlock, a press conference was organised to explain the method, the content of the work and the reasons for this unprecedented situation.
However, its proceedings are said to have been disrupted by the intervention of LR senator Stéphane Piednoir, president of the OPECST, who allegedly prevented the discussion from taking place smoothly. AGAP, a left-wing association of parliamentary assistants at the Senate, has for its part denounced verbal threats and physical coercion exerted against a parliamentary assistant present at the scene.
In a press release published on 13 May, the association calls for a strong reaction from the Presidency of the Senate and for the matter to be referred to the Bureau at its next meeting.
Beyond the incident, this affair is reigniting tensions surrounding the transparency of parliamentary and scientific work on acetamiprid. Its opponents view it as a denial of democratic debate, at a time when the question of the potential return of this pesticide to certain agricultural uses is raising strong environmental and health concerns.
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