Nathalie GOULET is a senator for Orne, vice-president of the Law Commission, Jean-Louis THIERIOT is a deputy for Seine-et-Marne and Éric MORAIN is a lawyer at the Paris Bar.
"There is no objective ownership of the milk which can be at its geographical origin, including whether or not the milk is produced in a Member State of the European Union."
It is with these words that in its decision of March 10, 2021, the Council of State ruled that it was no longer mandatory to impose geographic labeling of milk.
The French will therefore soon be able to buy cartons of milk in the maze of supermarkets without knowing whether it comes from the Bulgarian or Brazilian plains, the Chinese mountains or the French meadows.
From Dauphiné Libéré to Progress, via the Courrier Picard and Vosges morning, this decision was widely shared within the territories and sparked revolt in the agricultural world.
An indignation all the more understandable as this decision has disastrous consequences both for the French dairy farmer who will not be able to fight economically against foreign breeders, and for the French consumer who will buy milk while having both eyes masked by the FFP2 visor "Made in Council of State".
A blindness which also affects the judges of the Palais-Royal themselves insofar as the decision taken is against the tide of societal developments, "against the tide of History".
While the general trend encourages us to consume responsibly and locally by favoring short circuits, to respect strict health standards to avoid the spread of diseases linked to food, to inform consumers more and more of the origin of products, the Council of State retropedal and signs the killing of French milk.
The judges thus upheld the arguments of the Lactalis Group, the world No. 1 in dairy products which garnered nearly 20 billion euros in sales in 2019 and which has 266 industrial sites around the world.
The Council of State ruled that there was no proven link between the origin of the milk and its properties, which did not make it possible to impose geographic labeling of the milk.
Based on a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Council of State thus ruled that a proven link between the origin of the milk and its properties had not been demonstrated, which did not make it possible to '' impose geographic labeling of milk.
Put simply, the judges considered that French milk had the same properties as Hungarian or Canadian milk.
However, it seems obvious that the texture, taste and smell of milk depend exclusively on the animal's diet.
A diet based on hay and grass will not give the same product as that which comes from a diet composed of transgenic maize and palm oil.
This was also highlighted at the time of the “Buttergate” in Canada.
But these considerations were, at first glance, not taken into account by the Council of State which ruled in favor of the “Milk Giant”.
A “Giant” who struggles to convince insofar as he advocates
“his attachment to ensuring that the free movement of goods in Europe is not undermined”
, considering that
“the European market must remain a single market in order to to preserve the exports of French dairy products, France exporting 50% of its milk production ”.
An attachment to the free movement of goods which in reality masks the primary desire of the Lactalis Group to import foreign milk at prices lower than those charged in France, in order to achieve ever more margins, all to the detriment of producers.
We must make the link with the relentlessness put by Lactalis in blurring the tracks of the production of Camembert desperately trying to maintain the labels "made in Normandy" or "of Normandy"!
The PDO remains with Camembert de Normandie, the local milk supply of which is therefore guaranteed.
We must therefore believe that the origin of milk matters.
This attachment to the free movement of goods masks the Lactalis Group's primary desire to import foreign milk at prices lower than those charged in France, in order to achieve ever more margins, to the detriment of producers.
Otherwise, how to explain this decision hailed by professionals?
Having lost this battle, Lactalis obtains his revenge here.
The dairy producers have judged, without surprise, this decision
“irresponsible”
and going
“against the recognition of the work of the French dairy farmers”
.
Going against the many legislative works and the foundations of food, this decision gives the keys to milk production, especially to the globalized industry, while in our territories we are fighting to maintain farms and farms. quality of our some 90,000 breeders and the 50 or so dairy PDOs (46 cheeses, 3 butters, 2 creams) that populate our agrifood landscape.
We must not forget that the law of the strongest has shown limits with the contractualization which enslaved the milk producers by limiting
at least
the purchase of their production by the industrialists.
Do you know the price of milk?
In 2020, the price of conventional milk fell by 1.4% to land at € 326.00 / tonne against € 328.00 / tonne in 2019. These figures released by the Association des producteurs Lactalis de Bretagne et du Pays-de-la-Loire contradict to a certain extent with the annual balance sheet of the dairy giant, report in which it announced an average milk price of € 368.00 / per 1000 liters (all cow's milk combined, PDO, Organic, of Mountain…)
This decision was received by Norman producers as an affront and sowed confusion and incomprehension.
The government must intervene without delay by proposing national and European plans.
The solution to this crisis now also rests solely on us, the consumers, and on our future choices.
Let us give the Council of State the right to make mistakes and try to restore the situation at the legislative and regulatory level.
The solution to this crisis now also rests solely on us, the consumers, and on our future choices.
So, let's focus on the local, the label.
Let us privilege the moral, the quality.
Goodbye calves, cows, pigs, PDO ...