![\"brussels\"](\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/0d\/3e\/72aa1bc84afe864805755d140576\/webp.net-resizeimage%20(32).jpg\"\/ "\\"brussels\\"")
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A new French ordinance that says simply meat produces can use terms like \u201csausage\u201d or \u201cburger\u201d is reheating debate in Brussels over what to call vegetarian meals.<\/p>\n
Proponents of last-place month\u2019s law argue it\u2019s needed to avoid misleading customers about what they\u2019re eating. But vegetarians disagree it are do more to baffle customers at a time when Brussels is trying to encourage more plant-based meat alternatives, and could even flout EU single sell rules.<\/p>\n
The European Commission is expected to respond this week to a complaint<\/a> put forward by the hall group European Vegetarian Union against the French principle, which says the legislation \u201ccreates an obstacle to intra-community trade by compel traders to deepen their descriptions in order to meet the requirements of the French market.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo threw it simply, if there are German farmers, for example, who want to sell their vegetarian steaks in France, they won\u2019t be allowed because they are announced steak, \u201d said Sarah Champagne, a programme polouse at the French Vegetarian Association. Champagne added that \u201cthis heightens a problem of equal treatment between member states on the European market.\u201d<\/p>\n The French rule censor calls like \u201cveggie burgers\u201d was pushed by MP Barbara Bessot Ballot from President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s La Republique En Marche party as part of broader legislation<\/a> on opennes and what information food products should disclose to buyers, such as the country of origin for sugar and all meat products.<\/p>\n The law came with heavy endorse from the meat industry, which has long campaigned<\/a> against such vegetarian produce epithets in a bid to preserve a sphere facing challenges of declining incomes for farmers, precipitating meat uptake and increasing demands that agriculture take a more ecological approach.<\/p>\n In its recent Farm to Fork strategy<\/a>, Brussels calls for Europeans to eat less red meat and promotes meat alternatives<\/a>, quoting health and environmental reasons.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for France\u2019s meat industry federation Interbev said the French law \u201crepresents real progress in terms of transparency and report for consumers, \u201d adding: \u201cA product made from vegetal proteins shouldn\u2019t be compelling disbelieve in the minds of consumers by presenting itself as an expression of the results of animal root, both in areas of its illusion and its nutritional assets \u2026 These produces are simply not meat, whether in terms of their composition, their nutritional importance or their taste.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the European Parliament\u2019s agriculture committee are debating similar powers<\/a> to restrict how veggie concoctions are described as part of the EU\u2019s revamped Common Agricultural Policy. The discussion is still ongoing and the shape of an amendment on the subject will be decided later this month, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new French constitution is certainly have an impact on what\u2019s decided on the EU level, \u201d one official close to the talks said.<\/p>\n The European Vegetarian Union also argues in \u201cthe authors complaint\u201d that the French principle and any other same laws and regulations should \u201cbe put on hold\u201d until EU law \u201cprovides for solutions relevant across the internal market.\u201d<\/p>\n Brussels\u2019 biggest menu industry foyer radical FoodDrinkEurope said it\u2019s important that rules be harmonized in all the regions of the bloc.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t like to have a decision of the French parliament that is different than the German one and then different from Italian one, \u201d said Marco Settembri, the president of FoodDrinkEurope.<\/p>\n There is precedent for France\u2019s limiteds. In 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that terms such as \u201cmilk, \u201d \u201ccheese\u201d and \u201cbutter\u201d should be reserved for animal concoctions, forbidding favourite almond milks and vegan butters from selling themselves as such.<\/p>\n Even if Brussels does adopt limiteds for meat alternatives, vegetarian radicals say that would create impediments in the immediate term as foodmakers adapt to new packaging requirements, but they are still optimistic about the future of the market.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course we are very clearly opposed to the law and we\u2019ve had a lot of contact with producers and retailers who sell vegetarian concoctions and who are a bit obsessed, \u201d said Champagne from the French Vegetarian Association.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we are quite confident, and so are the producers, that this market will develop still, \u201d she added.<\/p>\n Want more analysis from POLITICO? POLITICO Pro is our premium intelligence service for professionals. From financial services to trade, technology, cybersecurity and more, Pro gives real time intelligence, deep insight and transgressing scoops you need to keep one step onward. Email pro @politico. eu<\/a> to request a complimentary trial.<\/p>\n Read more: politico.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n