EU sues France for telling people how to recycle

Brussels bureaucrats aren’t known for being easygoing on single market rules — and it turns out even world-leading green laws won’t win you an exception.

The European Commission announced last Thursday it will take France to court for overzealous waste-sorting regulations that it says violate the free movement of goods principle.

The EU executive made the decision after having warned Paris repeatedly that its mandatory waste-sorting labels are not compatible with the EU single market.

Under French law, producers of goods like packaging, textiles, phones or even gardening equipment must include a sorting label — known in France as the “Triman” logo or “Info-tri” label — on their products, so citizens can be informed about how to dispose of them properly.

Introduced in 2022, the labels use symbols to explain which parts of the products go in which bin. Paris and Brussels have been fighting over them ever since.

Brussels wants to harmonize labelling rules at the EU level. The bloc introduced new packaging rules last year that will require all packaging placed on the EU market to have a “harmonised label containing information on its material composition in order to facilitate consumer sorting.” That requirement doesn’t take effect until August 2028, however.

The Commission argues that until the EU-wide rules are implemented, enforcing the use of a specific label at the national level is “disproportionate” and represents “an obstacle to the free movement of goods,” it said in a press statement.

Companies have complained for years that differing national requirements regarding waste labels across EU member countries make it harder and more expensive for them to sell goods in the bloc’s market, as they are forced to adapt their packaging to meet national rules.

“Over the years, [the Triman logo] has inflicted a disproportionate impact on European companies, incurring costs to modify the artwork on their packaging for the French market,” said Francesca Stevens, secretary general at packaging lobby Europen, adding that businesses have had “to bear extra costs of significant scale to comply with this unilateral label requirement.” 

A spokesperson from the French environment ministry said the country would “adapt our law to the packaging regulation to comply with European expectations in 2028. Until then, we wish to keep the Triman [logo]. The dispute will cease with the implementation of the regulation.”

Brussels wants to harmonize labelling rules at the EU level. | Antonio Bat/EPA

Brussels sent two warnings to France, in February 2023 and November 2024, demanding that the government fix the issue. The country will now have to defend itself at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

France has a history of passing more ambitious circular economy laws at home that go beyond what the EU requires of people and businesses, a practice known as “gold-plating.”