Paris Court of Appeal holds French State accountable for inadequate assessment of pesticides

09 September 2025

The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal has held the French State accountable for its inadequate assessment of the environmental impacts of pesticides, including soil and water pollution, and biodiversity loss. The decision follows a case filed by Pesticide Action Network Europe and will require France to review their protocols to align them with a recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice, whereby pesticides must be assessed using the most recent science and cannot be based in other Member States’ assessments.

The Court has ordered the French government to review all marketing authorisations currently in force within 2 years.

The Court said that mistakes in how risks were judged led to pesticides approved wrongfully, or without proper safety rules, in particular regarding the protection of animals and plants that are not the target of those pesticides. The assessments did not match the most recent scientific evidence.