Hands off French farmland

The French parliament on Wednesday approved a bill to combat land grabbing. The new law must protect the French family business and keep (foreign) investors at a distance.  

The French government has long been concerned about the preservation of the French agricultural sector. Where previously, mainly in the border regions, agricultural land fell into foreign hands, investors now also have good plots of arable land in central France. 

According to real estate agency Safer, responsible for regulating the French land market, this trend is a danger for the French family businesses that are already struggling. According to the company, spectacularly high prices are being offered for the plots by investment companies and there is a shift towards larger companies with shareholders and employees. 

With the new law called Sapin 2, Safer now has the right to refuse transactions where agricultural land comes into the hands of (foreign) companies. In addition, the law provides a legal framework to combat speculation and prevent agricultural land from ending up in the hands of investment companies. 

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