European justice prohibits France from banning this term to designate products sold as alternatives to meat

The Court of Justice of the European Union has inflicted a setback on the French State, which intended to ban this terminology to strengthen the animal sectors.

“Vegetable steak”, “vegan bacon”, “vegetarian sausage”… These terms have their place on the shelves of French stores. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Friday October 4 that France did not have the right to prohibit manufacturers of plant-based alternatives to meat from using these terms. Indeed, unless it has adopted a legal name specific to a commodity, a State cannot prohibit the use of terms “usual” aimed at designating a product, writes the European court in its judgment.

On the other hand, the court considers that “if a national authority considers that the concrete terms of sale or promotion of a foodstuff mislead the consumer, it may pursue the operator”.

After the vote on a law in 2020, the government published two decrees to respond to a demand from stakeholders in the animal sector, for whom terms like “vegetable ham”, “vegan sausage” and other “vegetarian bacon” can create confusion among consumers. “It is now up to the French Council of State to make a final decision”underlined a spokesperson for the European Commission.

For its part, the French plant-based meat brand La Vie welcomed “a long-awaited victory”. The two French decrees, taken in June 2022 and then in February 2024, were immediately contested by players in the vegetarian and vegan products sector, such as the Protéines France association, which defends the interests of the sector. They had both been suspended in summary proceedings by the Council of State, pending this opinion from the CJEU on their compliance with the European regulation.

The summary judge, in April, considered that the second decree, which provided for a ban from May 1, “would seriously and immediately harm the interests of businesses” of plant products, which in particular should have urgently modified their packaging.