Updated September 2026.
Most of the value that changes hands in the French vineyard does not move as land: it moves as shares. Since the law of 23 December 2021 — known as the Sempastous law — taking control of a company that owns or farms agricultural land is itself subject to authorisation.
The trigger is control, not the land
The chapter added to the rural code does not catch the sale of a plot. It catches the change of hands of control of a company holding or operating agricultural land: shares in a GFA, a GFV, a SCEV, a SCEA, or in an operating company. A transaction that leaves the land untouched in the balance sheet, while transferring the majority above it, is squarely within scope.
Thresholds are regional
The surface threshold above which the control applies is set by regional prefectoral order, not by the national text. It differs from one wine region to another, and it is the first thing to establish on any given file — before the structure of the deal is fixed rather than after.
Who instructs, who decides
The SAFER instructs the file; the prefect decides. That division matters: the agency that may pre-empt land sales is also the body examining share deals, but the authorising signature is the State's. Authorisation may be refused, or granted subject to commitments — typically an undertaking to make land available to another farmer.
Four exclusions, and a one-year window
The text carves out four categories of operation. It also contains, at article L. 333-4, a one-year window whose effect is to catch operations split into successive steps: a series of transfers within twelve months is assessed as a whole, not one by one. Structuring a deal in instalments to stay below a threshold is precisely what the provision addresses.
It runs in parallel, not instead
This control does not replace the older contrôle des structures, which continues to apply to the operating side. Nor does it replace SAFER pre-emption on the land itself. A vineyard transaction can face all three, on different timetables.
Full data series (French). The full analysis, with the articles and the date of the version in force, is published in Le contrôle des cessions de parts, and the ownership structures themselves in Les structures de détention. One series, one reference address, never duplicated.
What this page does not do. It restates published figures and explains how they are built. It values nothing, advises on no transaction, and replaces neither a valuation nor the advice of a qualified professional. VITACEAE issues no estimate on the basis of this page.
How to cite this page
Short form — “Observatoire VITACEAE”, September 2026 edition.
Full form — VITACEAE, Sempastous: how France controls vineyard company share transfers, Observatoire VITACEAE, September 2026 edition. Source : Le contrôle des cessions de parts, law of 23 December 2021. Permanent address : undefined/en/vineyard-market-data/sempastous-share-transfer-control/ (accessed DD/MM/YYYY).
This address does not change from one edition to the next : a link placed today will always point to the current edition.
Reproduction permitted provided the source is cited as “Observatoire VITACEAE”, with a link to this page. — This document is published for economic information purposes. It constitutes neither legal advice, nor a tax analysis, nor a wealth-management recommendation, nor a valuation. VITACEAE TRANSACTIONS SAS, RCS Reims 823 282 637, CPI 5102 2016 000 014 113 (CCI Marne-Ardennes).