AFPFrench camembert in a wooden package
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 20:43
Aida Brands
editor Brussels
Aida Brands
editor Brussels
The French cheese industry has lobbied heavily in recent weeks against the European Commission’s stricter packaging rules. They are concerned that the characteristic wooden container in which the camembert is packaged will have to disappear in the future. But does that wooden container really have to disappear, or is this an attempt by the packaging industry to thwart the new rules?
According to the lobby, new rules from the European Commission could ensure that camembert may no longer be packed in wooden containers in the future. Traditionally, camembert is sold in wooden packaging because it can continue to ripen. However, the wooden containers often end up in the garbage bag after which they are burned and not recycled.
A year ago, the European Commission presented new guidelines for packaging and waste, with the aim of producing 15 percent less packaging material by 2040. In addition, all packaging must be fully recyclable by 2030. The idea is that there will be an end to, for example, the plastic foil on cucumbers and small plastic bottles of shampoo in hotels.
‘Caricature of the EU’
French State Secretary for European Affairs, Laurence Boone, also opposes possible new packaging for French cheese. She warned against the news site Politico that the European Commission is abusing these new rules caricatures the EU.
France correspondent Frank Renout:
“If you come to Camembert, you come to the French. The real Normandy cheese with the official AOP stamp is not only a culinary masterpiece that makes the French mouth water, it is also a culinary heritage that is famous all over the world They are proud of that.
So if ‘Europe’ makes a decision that harms Camembert, the knives will be sharpened immediately. In recent days and weeks, France has received reports full of scorn and indignation about the European Union’s alleged urge to regulate. “Hands off our cheese,” was the tone.
“Brussels has declared war on camembert,” read the headline news site Atlantico . Daily newspaper Le Figaro even wrote the slogan ‘I’m Camembert’ on social media, a tasteless reference to the expressions of support for Charlie Hebdo (‘Je suis Charlie’), after the editors there were shot dead by terrorists.
The French public broadcaster also made itself felt. ‘Panic among the Camembert producers’, reported France Inter. The radio station immediately qualified it, but again with ringing words: ‘France narrowly escapes diplomatic cheese crisis’.
Because the soup is not eaten as hot as it is served. Quality newspaper Le Monde described somewhat chauvinistically how proud French politicians took to the barricades in Brussels. French MEPs are now trying to drag their camembert away from the gates of banned packaging hell by amending the law.”
Is there a Brussels drive to regulate, as some claim, or is it a bit more nuanced? The European Commission has indicated that these new rules do not necessarily have to lead to the disappearance of wooden containers and calls on the industry to take measures so that the packaging can be recycled. However, according to the French cheese industry, the costs of recycling are too high.
The committee’s proposal also makes an exception to the stricter packaging rules for regional products. This exception would also apply to authentic camembert, which is made with raw milk. The new rules are particularly detrimental to industrially produced camembert. The consumer will soon be able to see much more clearly from the packaging whether it is an original Normandy camembert.
Lobby in cafés
But it is not only the French cheese industry that is leading a strong lobby. The packaging industry also does this, for example this afternoon during a European debate on packaging rules, which are criticized by many MEPs. Flyers with the text “EPs save our takeaway” were recently distributed in parliament against the committee’s proposed rule. It is not clear who the flyers come from. According to the Euractiv site, the lobbying goes much further and MEPs are approached not only in the corridors of parliament, but also in cafes. This is contrary to current European lobbying rules.
The MEPs will determine their position on the packaging rules tomorrow. However, that does not mean that the lobbying stops. In the coming period, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will negotiate the new rules. The question remains whether they will reach an agreement before next year’s European elections. Only once they have made a decision will the stricter packaging rules become a fact.
2023-11-21 19:43:14
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