“Access to agricultural land” law: the Government’s “à la carte” emergency

2022-11-03 23:00:00

Eleven months following its adoption on December 13, 2021, the law on emergency measures to ensure the regulation of access to agricultural land through corporate structures, known as the “Sempastous law”, remains almost entirely inapplicable, although it came into force on 1^is July 2022 .

Already, during its examination, the Senate underlined the variable geometry of the “urgency” to legislate invoked by the Government, which had justified the use of the accelerated procedure, the absence of a prior impact study and the lack of consultation by the need for rapid implementation of a regulatory law. However, parliamentarians are still waiting for the “Sempastous law” to go beyond words and translate into action.

It is clear that the Government does not impose on itself the urgency that it opposes to the work and the parliamentary calendar. Indeed, the implementing decrees of the core of the law, which establishes a new procedure for controlling the transfer of shares and shares of companies holding agricultural land, are still pending. The deadline of 1^is November 2022, although set by law as the deadline for application, was not respected.

Despite the requests of rapporteur Olivier Rietmann, the Government has not sent the Senate any draft decree, and no text has been submitted for public consultation. Among the provisions that still need to be clarified are the content of authorization requests and the procedures for examination by the SAFERs. Above all, the conditions under which the significant expansion threshold, the crossing of which triggers the new control procedure, may be set by the prefect, are not yet known.

This delay is all the more detrimental as the uncertainty is real for the operations carried out since 1^is November 2022 : will they be submitted to the control voted by the Parliament? Or the government leaves open a breach, into which speculators and investors will not fail to rush, especially at a time when land is becoming scarcer and more expensive with “zero net artificialisation”? Will young farmers wishing to settle be able to benefit from the priority provision scheme, or will they still have to wait several months?

For Olivier Rietmann, “the Government must assume its responsibilities and speed up the adoption of regulatory implementing measures. Otherwise, farmers who have plans to buy or sell in the coming months will be unfairly penalized, for example in the case of retirement or installation”.

Philippe Péjo – Senate Communication Department
01 42 34 35 98 – [email protected]

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