The French Supreme Administrative Court has upheld an appeal by Der Grüne Punkt and PRO Europe to annul a decree issued by the French Ministry of the Environment in 2020. The “Der Grüne Punkt” financing symbol can therefore continue to be affixed to packaging in France without additional charges.
The relevant passage in the French Environmental Code (Code de l'Environnement) stipulates that double the participation fee must be paid in France for packaging placed on the market, if this packaging contains symbols “which are likely to confuse the consumer in matters of waste separation“.
In a decree subsequently published by the French Ministry of the Environment, “Der Grüne Punkt” was defined as a confusing symbol, although the brand has been an international financing symbol for packaging recycling systems for over 30 years. This regulation, if implemented, would have considerable effort and additional costs, especially for companies that deliver packaged products to France in the millions in some cases.
The French Supreme Administrative Court has has now annulled the decree of the French Ministry of the Environment with reference to the Green Dot. The main reason given for the decision was that the French authorities had not sufficiently fulfilled their obligation to notify the European Commission of the proposed legislation.
Der Grüne Punkt and PRO Europe welcome the Decision of the French administrative court.
Source: The Green Dot