France to Fast-Track Law to Protect Its Struggling Farmers

A wheat harvest on a farm in Leves, Eure et Loir, France.

Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

France is moving to fast-track emergency legislation to protect its farmers from rising imports as Europe’s top agricultural producer faces a collapse in its food trade balance.

The bill will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday before being debated in the National Assembly and Senate, with a final vote expected at the end of July, an agriculture ministry official told reporters on a call. In the normal course, debates over legislation can take six months or more.