France faces legal action over national waste sorting labels

The European Commission has referred France to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) over concerns that its national waste labelling rules are restricting the free movement of goods within the EU.

Under current French legislation, all household products covered by extended producer responsibility (EPR) must display both the ‘Triman’ logo, indicating the product is subject to sorting rules, and ‘infotri’ instructions, which outline how the product should be disposed of or recycled.

However, the European Commission argues that these labelling requirements place an unfair burden on producers from other Member States, who must adapt their packaging solely for the French market. In the absence of EU-wide rules on consumer sorting labels, the Commission believes France’s national labelling obligations act as a barrier to trade, which may breach Articles 34–36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The Commission also suggests that less trade-restrictive alternatives are available to inform consumers, particularly while the EU prepares to introduce harmonised rules under the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) through future implementing acts.

In addition, France is said to have breached transparency rules by failing to notify the European Commission about its labelling rules at the draft stage, as required under the Single Market Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/1535).

The case follows earlier action by the Commission, including a formal notice in February 2023 and a reasoned opinion in November 2024. As France has not made the required changes, the Commission is now escalating the matter to the EU’s top court.

The move is part of a broader effort by the Commission to address barriers in the Single Market, as highlighted in its recent strategy document, “The Single Market: our European home market in an uncertain world.”