Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had promised farmers he would find solutions to their problems with their “means of production”.
Senators backed the bill by 214 votes to 111.
The emergency law has been pushed through with difficulty and is causing divisions even within the ruling majority.
The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, opposed the adoption of the law and announced, as soon as it was approved by the Senate, that she would submit her resignation to Emmanuel Macron.
The left is expected to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council, and Green MP Daniel Salmon has slammed “a reckless and destructive headlong rush, with complacent measures that deny the scientific evidence”.
For his part, centrist senator Franck Ménonville describes the text as a response to “the hypocrisy of producing less in France in order to import ever more products that do not comply with our standards”.
The law provides that, if referred to by the Minister of Agriculture, the health agency Anses may, “on an exceptional basis” and subject to conditions, authorise the use of two pesticides: acetamiprid and flupyradifurone.
The first has been banned in France since 2018. The EU allows it until 2033, at ever lower doses.
Flupyradifurone (source in French), banned since 31 December 2019, is considered a new-generation neonicotinoid. Its use is authorised in the EU until 2029.
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