WRITTEN QUESTION P-3518/02

by Ursula Schleicher (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 December 2002)

Subject: Product labelling

The labelling of food and cosmetic products, for example, is becoming ever more detailed. Although such detailed information is to some extent a response to consumer demand, it also creates problems in terms of presentation. Consumers are increasingly complaining that the print on labels is too small and therefore hardly legible or that the national language is not given prominence or does not even appear at all on leaflets accompanying products.

What view does the Commission take of this problem?

Can the Commission provide a list of product groups which are covered by European labelling rules that no longer allow independent national regulation?

Is it possible when transposing European labelling rules to stipulate the size of print at national level or to require the national language to be given prominence?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(17 January 2003)

As a general principle, labelling should provide clear, accurate and understandable information in a language easily understood by the consumer. In the words of Article 2(1) of Directive 2000/13/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs(1), labelling must not be such as could mislead the purchaser to a material degree. In addition, Article 13 of this Directive states that the mandatory particulars shall be easy to understand and marked in a conspicuous place in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible and indelible. This key requirement of consumer information on labels is repeated in various forms in many pieces of Community legislation.

Legibility of labels and leaflets

From the principle set out above, the legibility of a label is crucial for ensuring consumers have full information. Member States, in their transposition of labelling directives, have to give optimal effet utile to this principle in accordance with the EC Treaty taking due account of the principle of free movement of goods, Article 28 EC Treaty. The prescription of character sizes and the promotion of the national language remains possible, if and insofar, Member States do not erect technical barriers to trade which are not in conformity with the EC Treaty.

With regard to the labelling of foodstuffs, the Commission has recently engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of the current rules, with a view to identify if legislative changes, or other tools of enforcement, are needed in order to meet demands from consumers, included for the presentation of the labels.

Choice of language

Concerning the choice of language displayed on a product label, Article 16(1) of Directive 2000/13/EC requires that sales of foodstuffs is prohibited where labels, for certain particulars (or details), do not appear in a language easily understood by the consumer. Paragraph 2 of the same provision makes it optional for Member States, in accordance with the rules of the EC Treaty, to stipulate that those labelling particulars shall be given in one or more languages which it shall determine from among the official languages of the Community. Article 7(2) of Directive 76/768/EEC as amended by Council Directive 93/35/EEC of 14 June 1993 relating to cosmetic products(2), allows Member States to require that certain particulars be expressed at least in their national or official language or languages or be expressed in a language easily understood by the consumer.

The Commission has set out its policy in its Communication concerning language use in the information of consumers in the Community of 10 November 1993(3). In this Communication the Commission presented the acquis communautaire to that date making statements on the use of language in respect of the consumer. Community law varies considerably as to the degree it regulates the use of language and the margin of appreciation for the Member States to establish national rules. Labelling rules are, in particular, strict where a potentially dangerous product is placed on the market. For example, Articles 56 and 63 of Directive 2001/83/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use(4) or Article 5 of Directive 2001/37/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products(5) contain such language provisions. Outside specialised fields that require a high degree of harmonisation, the Commission in its Communication(7) considers rules concerning languages naturally fall within the competence of Member States (paragraph 2) and established some objectives to encourage multilingual information for the consumer and to guarantee the freedom of the Member States in language matters (paragraph 43).

Following the judgement of the Court of Justice in case C-369/89, the Commission has further published an Interpretative Commission Communication concerning the use of languages in the marketing of foodstuffs in the light of the judgement in the Peeters case(6) where it expressed its belief that in the labelling of foodstuffs sold to the ultimate consumer, the use of terms in a language other than the official language(s) of the Member State where the product is marketed should, in practice, remain the exception (paragraph 44).

(1) OJ L 109, 6.5.2000.

(2) OJ L 151, 23.6.1993.

(3) COM(93) 456 final.

(4) OJ L 311, 28.11.2001.

(5) OJ L 194, 18.7.2001.

(6) COM(93) 532 final.

(7) COM(93) 456 final.