On 16 July 2025, the European Commission referred France to the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding its Triman logo rules. The procedure started because France’s labelling requirements for sorting instructions are regarded as incompatible with the EU principle of free movement of goods (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – TFEU).
When national requirements represent obstacles to free movement of goods
The TFEU foresees that adding further national requirements to goods coming from other Member States where they are lawfully marketed represents an obstacle to free movement of goods. In this sense, the French national requirements to affix the “Triman logo” oblige operators to adjust their products only for the French market.
Additionally, the European Commission pointed out that:
- The French requirements are too restrictive and disproportionate, particularly when compared to certain provisions in other Member States to inform consumers about waste sorting. For instance, Spain requires operators to affix sorting instructions to packaging, without imposing specific symbols. Similarly, Italy imposes certain rules on how to display recycling instructions, however, without enforcing specific symbols.
- France is in breach of EU rules, because the Member State did not notify the Commission at the draft stage of the provisions, a step foreseen by the Single Market Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/1535).
Harmonisation of waste sorting instructions in the EU
The new EU Packaging Regulation sets the basis to harmonise sorting information in the EU. Although there are no official symbols or instructions decided yet, there is a proposal already. However, dozens of European associations expressed their concerns in a joint statement about the harmonised instructions that the Joint Research Centre recommended to the Commission recently.
For any guidance or support in affixing recycling symbols to your packaging, contact us here or at prodlaw@obelis.net.
References:
European Commission (2025). Commission refers FRANCE to the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding its labelling requirements for waste sorting. Retrieved on 17/07/2025.
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