An EU member state cannot prohibit manufacturers of plant-based meat alternatives from using terms such as « steak »ruled the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Friday, thus contradicting a decree taken by France.
In its judgment, the Court considers that, unless it has adopted a specific legal name for a food, a State cannot prohibit the use of terms intended to designate the product.
For the CJEU, “a Member State cannot prevent, by a general and abstract ban, producers of foodstuffs based on vegetable proteins” to use “common names or (de)scriptive names”.
The French government had published two decrees to respond to an already long-standing demand from stakeholders in the animal sector, for whom terms like “vegetable ham”, « saucisse vegan » or “vegetarian bacon” can create confusion among consumers.
These two texts, taken in June 2022 then in February 2024, were contested by players in the vegetarian and vegan products sector such as the Protéines France association.
They were both suspended in summary proceedings by the Council of State, which was awaiting this opinion from the CJEU on their compliance with European regulations.
The latest decree was among the commitments made by the government to appease the anger of farmers this winter, and was published during the last Agricultural Show.