Brussels attacks France for its “Triman” logo on packaging

Introduced in 2015, the "Triman" logo is this character with three arrows that indicates to consumers that a product or packaging should not be thrown away with household waste, but in the yellow bin or taken to a collection point for recycling.

The European Union is fighting the proliferation of national labels, which Brussels sees as an obstacle to building a strong European internal market in the face of China and the United States. A few weeks ago, speaking to the press, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné specifically targeted the French requirement for the Triman logo, seeing it as a "barrier to the internal market" because "the labeling locks the product into the French market."

The European Commission announced Thursday that it had referred France to the Court of Justice of the European Union, considering the French requirements for this signage to be "disproportionate" and "an obstacle to the free movement of goods." Other options, "less restrictive of (commercial) trade between Member States, exist to inform consumers," the Commission asserted.