Le Figaro Nice
The mayor Les Républicains of Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes), Jérôme Viaud, has no trouble recognizing it. He is not a regular in the corridors of the European Commission in Brussels. The elected official, also president of the association of mayors of the department, had to go through them. Because discussions about a new regulation on the use of essential oils in cosmetic products worry him.
As the first magistrate of a city that is "the cradle of perfumery and which has staked everything on it" according to him, this draft revision of the regulations could harm the economy and the attractiveness of his city. He does not fail to recall it: in 2018, as part of a local urban plan, he preserved 70 hectares for the agriculture of perfume plants. This has contributed to the return of the great houses on this territory.
The Green Deal Committee on the European Parliament's side is studying many revisions in the field of chemistry, within the framework of the CLP (classification, labelling and mixtures) and Reach (for the use of chemical substances) regulations. This includes essential oils in the broad sense, since they are used in the component of cosmetic products, from creams to perfumes. The concern comes from allergens and endocrine disruptors that could contain these natural productions, derived from lavender, roses and other flowers.
Economic issues
Is this fear based on real public health issues? Or is it instrumentalized by lobbies for economic issues? "I understood that it was a national sport there," says Jérôme Viaud, who still wonders about the real concerns behind this potential revision. "People think that essential oils are harmful because of allergens and think that fine chemistry will be able to remove them while keeping the same quality," he summarizes. I come to try to prove the opposite and that consumers are attached to the naturalness of products and the know-how of producers."
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For this, the mayor of Grasse launched, on June 1st, a European club of mayors of perfume cities in order to weigh more in the discussions. Jérôme Viaud took over the presidency and about fifteen mayors concerned joined him in this initiative, such as that of Seville or the former Romanian Prime Minister, Emil Boc, now elected from the city of Cluj-Napoca. "We defend what we think is right, supports the mayor of Grasse and president of the agglomeration community. We are worried that the commission is questioning this and we cannot remain passive."
Reassuring the markets
This structure should also make it possible to reassure the markets. The luxury cosmetics and perfumes sector could quickly question the contracts with the various producers of essential oils. It is in this sense that Jérôme Viaud does not want to be "alarmist and catastrophic" either. But he recalls that such a modification could "handicap biodiversity, our farmers, our sectors, our know-how in cosmetics, so it is important to mobilize," he insists.
He never imagines seeing "a skull" on bottles of essential oils, especially when the France is positioned as the world's leading producer of lavandin essential oil. When he soon leaves for the corridors of the European Commission in Brussels, he will be followed by other mayors who, like him, hope to be heard and considered. With the objective that essential oils are neither integrated into a regulation for chemicals nor, in the long term, replace with these same substitute nectars.
