62022CJ0399_RES
Case C‑399/22
Confédération paysanne
v
Ministre de l’agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaireandMinistre de l’Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (France))
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 4 October 2024
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common commercial policy – International agreements – Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part – Amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement – Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 – Article 9 – Article 26(2) – Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 – Article 3(1) and (2) – Article 5(1) and (2) – Article 8 – Article 15(1) and (4) – Annex I – Annex IV – Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 – Article 76 – Provision of food information to consumers – Mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of foods – Fruit and vegetables harvested in Western Sahara – Request for a Member State unilaterally to ban imports of those goods in its territory – Mandatory indication of Western Sahara as the place of provenance of tomatoes and melons harvested in that territory)
Common commercial policy – Scope – EC-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement – Imports into the Union of agricultural goods – Included
(Art. 207(1) TFEU)
(see paragraphs 42-44)
Common commercial policy – Common rules for imports – Regulation 2015/478 – Safeguard system – Scope – Exclusive competence of the Union – Competence of the Commission to adopt safeguard measures within the framework set by the cooperation mechanisms provided for by the EU-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement – Powers of the Member States unilaterally to adopt safeguard measures banning the import of agricultural goods which systematically fail to comply with the EU legislation concerning the indication of the country or territory of origin – None
(Arts 2(1), 3(1)(e), 36 and 207(1) TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1308/2013, Art. 194, and 2015/478, Arts 1, 15(1), and 24(2)(a))
(see paragraphs 46-55, operative part 1)
Approximation of laws – Provision of food information to consumers – Prohibition of labelling that could mislead the purchaser – Regulation No 1169/2011 – Scope – Specific provisions on the indication of the origin of fresh fruit and vegetables laid down by Regulations No 1308/2013 and No 543/2011 – Not included
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1169/2011, Arts 1(4), 9 and 26, and No 1308/2013, Arts 75(3)(j) and 76; Commission Regulation No 543/2011, Art. 1(1) and Annex I, Part A)
(see paragraphs 67-69)
Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Fruit and vegetables – Regulation No 543/2011 – Mandatory food information – Mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of foods – Failure to indicate this liable to mislead consumers – Fruit and vegetables originating in Western Sahara occupied by Morocco – Obligation for those fruit and vegetables to bear an indication of their territory of origin defined like the customs territory – Concept of customs territory – Territory of Western Sahara – Included – Kingdom of Morocco – Not included
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 952/2013, Art. 60, and No 1308/2013, Art. 76(1); Commission Regulations No 543/2011, Art. 3(1) and Annex 1, Part A, point 4, Part B, point VI, and part 10, and 2020/1470)
(see paragraphs 72, 73, 79-81, 83, 86-89, operative part 2)
Agriculture – Common organisation of the markets – Fruit and vegetables – Marketing conditions – Indication of the country of origin – Concept of country of origin – Interpretation in the light of the customs rules for the determination of the non-preferential origin of goods – Country or territory where the goods were harvested – Inclusion in the concept
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 952/2013, Arts 59(c), 60 and 61, and No 1308/2013, Art. 76; Commission Regulation No 543/2011, Art. 3(1) and Annex 1, Part A, point 4, Part B, point VI)
(see paragraphs 74-78)
International agreements – European Union Agreements – EC-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement – Territorial scope – Non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara falling outside the sovereignty of the parties – Not included
(EC-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, Art. 11)
(see paragraphs 82, 85)
Résumé
Hearing a request for a preliminary ruling brought by the Conseil d’État (Council of State, France), the Court of Justice, sitting as the Grand Chamber, rules that Article 207 TFEU, Regulation 2015/478 (
1
) and Regulation No 1308/2013 (
2
) do not permit a Member State unilaterally to adopt a measure banning the import of agricultural goods the labelling of which systematically fails to comply with the EU legislation concerning the indication of the country or territory of origin. It also emphasises that Article 76 of Regulation No 1308/2013, read in conjunction with Article 3(1) of Implementing Regulation No 543/2011, (
3
) must be interpreted as meaning that, at the stages of import and sale to the consumer, the labelling of Charentais melons and cherry tomatoes harvested in the territory of Western Sahara must indicate Western Sahara alone as the country of origin of those goods.
The request has been made in proceedings between, on the one hand, the Confédération paysanne, a French agricultural union, and, on the other, the ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaire (Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, France) and the ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique (Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, France) concerning the legality of an implicit decision made by those ministers rejecting the Confédération paysanne’s request that they issue a decree banning the import of cherry tomatoes and Charentais melons harvested in the territory of Western Sahara (‘the goods at issue in the main proceedings’).
On 2 October 2020, the Confédération paysanne brought an action before the Conseil d’État – the referring court – seeking first, annulment of the implicit decision of those ministers to reject its request, and, second, an order that those ministers issue that decree. It argues that the territory of Western Sahara is not part of the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco and that the labelling indicating that the goods at issue in the main proceedings originate from Morocco is therefore in breach of the provisions of EU law relating to the provision of information to consumers regarding the origin of fruit and vegetables offered for sale.
The referring court questions, inter alia, whether the relevant rules of EU law authorise a Member State to adopt a national measure banning imports, originating in a third country, of goods the labelling of which does not correctly indicate the country or territory from which the goods originate and whether those rules permit, at the stage of the import of the goods at issue in the main proceedings and the stage of the sale of those goods to consumers, the labelling of the goods to refer to the Kingdom of Morocco as the country of origin or whether that labelling must refer only to the territory of Western Sahara.
Findings of the Court
In the first place, regarding the question whether Article 207 TFEU, the Basic Safeguard Regulation and Regulation No 1308/2013 are to be interpreted as permitting a Member State unilaterally to adopt a measure banning the import of agricultural goods the labelling of which systematically fails to comply with the EU legislation concerning the indication of the country or territory of origin, first, the Court recalls that Article 3(1)(e) TFEU confers exclusive competence on the Union in the area of common commercial policy, which, according to Article 207(1) TFEU, is to be based on uniform principles and conducted in the context of the principles and objectives of the Union’s external action.
Second, the Court states that, when the Treaties confer on the Union exclusive competence in a specific area, only the Union may legislate and adopt legally binding acts. (
4
) The Member States may legislate and adopt legally binding acts themselves in such an area only if so empowered by the Union or for the implementation of Union acts. Accordingly, if they are not so empowered, the Member States may not unilaterally adopt a measure banning the import of a category of goods originating in a third territory or country, such import being, moreover, permitted and regulated by a trade agreement concluded by the European Union.
It is true that Article 24(2)(a) of the Basic Safeguard Regulation provides that that regulation does not preclude the adoption or application by Member States of prohibitions, quantitative restrictions or surveillance measures on certain specific grounds. The Court nevertheless notes that that provision is without prejudice to other relevant provisions of EU law. Thus, in the area of the import of agricultural goods, Article 194 of Regulation No 1308/2013 reserves to the European Commission the competence to take safeguard measures with regard to imports into the Union of goods falling within the scope of Regulation No 1308/2013. Article 24(2)(a) of the Basic Safeguard Regulation cannot, consequently, be understood as enabling the Member States unilaterally to adopt safeguard measures with regard to the import of agricultural goods.
In that regard, the Court emphasises that, in the event of widespread disregard by exporters for the provisions of EU law relating to the provision of information to consumers regarding the origin of fruit and vegetables offered for sale, it would in that case be not for a Member State but for the Commission to intervene, within the framework set by the cooperation mechanisms provided for by the Association Agreement.
In the second place, the Court examines the question whether Article 76 of Regulation No 1308/2013, read in conjunction with Article 3(1) of Implementing Regulation No 543/2011, is to be interpreted as meaning that, at the stages of import and sale to the consumer, the labelling of the goods at issue in the main proceedings must indicate Western Sahara – and may not refer to the Kingdom of Morocco – as the country of origin of those goods.
The Court recalls, in that regard, that recital 8 of Implementing Regulation No 543/2011, in the light of which the requirements laid down in Article 3(1) of that implementing regulation are to be read, states, in essence, that the information particulars required by marketing standards must be clearly displayed on the packaging and/or label of the goods concerned, in particular to avoid cases of misleading consumers. Thus, the indication of the country of origin which must necessarily appear on goods such as the goods at issue in the main proceedings must not be deceptive.
Having regard to Article 60 of Regulation No 952/2013, (
5
) the obligation to indicate the country of origin of the goods at issue in the main proceedings which stems, first, from the general marketing standards laid down in Part A of Annex I to Implementing Regulation No 543/2011 and the specific marketing standards set out in Part 10 of Part B of Annex I to that implementing regulation, and, second, from Article 76(1) of Regulation No 1308/2013, is applicable not only to goods which originate from ‘countries’, but also to those which originate from ‘territories’, which may include geographical areas which, whilst being under the jurisdiction or the international responsibility of a State, nevertheless have a separate and distinct status from that State under international law.
The goods at issue in the main proceedings having been harvested in the territory of Western Sahara, the Court recalls that that territory constitutes a territory distinct from that of the Kingdom of Morocco. (
6
) Annex I to Implementing Regulation 2020/1470 (
7
) moreover lays down separate codes and texts for Western Sahara and the Kingdom of Morocco.
In those circumstances, the Court concludes that the territory of Western Sahara must be regarded as a customs territory for the purposes of Article 60 of Regulation No 952/2013 and, consequently, of Regulation No 1308/2013 and Implementing Regulation No 543/2011. Accordingly, the indication of the country of origin which must appear on the goods at issue in the main proceedings may designate only Western Sahara as such, because those goods are harvested in that territory. The Court explains that any other indication would be deceptive, as it could mislead consumers as to the true origin of the goods at issue in the main proceedings, inasmuch as it would be likely to suggest that those goods originate from a place other than the territory in which they were harvested.
(
1
)	Regulation (EU) 2015/478 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2015 on common rules for imports (OJ 2015 L 83, p. 16) (‘the Basic Safeguard Regulation’).
(
2
)	Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 671).
(
3
)	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors (OJ 2011 L 157, p. 1), as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 594/2013 of 21 June 2013 (OJ 2013 L 170, p. 43).
(
4
)	Article 2(1) TFEU.
(
5
)	Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ 2013 L 269, p. 1).
(
6
)	See judgments of 21 December 2016, Council v Front Polisario (C‑104/16 P, EU:C:2016:973, paragraph 92), and of 27 February 2018, Western Sahara Campaign UK (C‑266/16, EU:C:2018:118, paragraph 62).
(
7
)	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1470 of 12 October 2020 on the nomenclature of countries and territories for the European statistics on international trade in goods and on the geographical breakdown for other business statistics (OJ 2020 L 334, p. 2).