Forty NGOs denounce an attempt to “muzzle civil society” after the vote in finance committee of the National Assembly of an amendment eliminating tax advantages to guilty intrusion organizations on an agricultural or industrial site.
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It is a device several times presented since 2019 and several times rejected, that the deputy of Côtes-d’Armor Marc Le Fur (Les Républicains, LR) this time saw an important step. Wednesday, October 5, the finance committee of the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the finance bill (PLF) for 2023 aimed at suppressing the tax advantages of animal protection or environmental defense associations that would introduce themselves illegally on farms, slaughterhouses or industrial sites. If this amendment (also defended by deputies Véronique Louwagie (LR) and Marie-Christine Dalloz (LR) were to apply, individuals making a donation to these organizations could no longer benefit from a tax deduction, which is equivalent today to a form of public subsidy in the associative sector.
Shortly after this adoption, forty associations (including Greenpeace, Oxfam, Action Climate Network, the League for Bird Protection, Compassion in World Farming, etc.) signed a joint press release denouncing a attempt to “muzzle civil society” . “This amendment is a new proof of the relentlessness of the public authorities towards civil society organizations”, castigate NGOs, which recall the previous ones of the Gendarmerie Demeter cell, whose object is to “fight against attacks agricultural world “, or the law to combat separatisms, used according to associations to monitor their actions.
The amendment of the Republicans is particularly aimed, without appointing it, the organization L214, which broadcasts with the general public of the videos shot clandestly showing the underside of intensive farming or chain slaughter practices. For Marc Le Fur, these are “completely wrong films, with disturbing comments and music”. If L214 remains discreet on its filming conditions, it claims a form of clandestinity to show images which, otherwise, would not come out of the closed doors of certain breeding and slaughterhouses. Part of the L214 videos are obtained by operating employees or by members of the association who are hired on agricultural sites. end 2021, the association was condemned by The Rennes Court of Appeal for “domicile violation” for a video shot in a breeding of Morbihan rabbits and was provided in cassation.
“Amendment not operational”
If he wanted to condemn “intrusions in farms and violence”, the PLF rapporteur, Jean-René Cazeneuve (Renaissance, Gers), issued an unfavorable opinion to the proposed system, recalling that the intrusions are already liable to legal sanctions. “We must stop procrastinating. On each case, justice does its work, but one cannot encourage by public money methods of this kind,” argues Mr. Le Fur, who found a large Support among the majority deputies, who voted the amendment or abstained. “We wanted to mark the occasion, justifies to the world Mathieu Lefèvre, coordinator for the PLF of the Renaissance group. The right to respect for private property is fundamental, one cannot assimilate people who make intrusions to launchers of Alert. “The deputy recognizes, however, that the subject was not discussed with the government and that” the amendment is not operational “. “I am not sure he thrives until public session,” he continues.
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