Comité Colbert

…1 Proposal for a Regulation on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) The French Federation for Beauty Companies, the Union des fabricants and the Comité Colbert support the European Commission’s Green Deal and its global ambition towards a more sustainable economy. High-end and luxury industries are renowned for the excellence and exceptional creativity of their products. Their design and product presentations are celebrated throughout the world, and they are a key asset to the EU’s cultural influence and competitiveness in the global economy. Our commitment to creating high-quality products that last over time and value the finest materials through unique designs is precisely what makes the luxury industry a key component of the European cultural and creative heritage. High-end products are designed to be sustainable by nature – embracing both quality and durability.

…creative heritage. High-end products are designed to be sustainable by nature – embracing both quality and durability. Produced in limited quantities, they can be repaired and restored, thus enhancing their ability to be reused, given a second life, or passed from one generation to another. This creative approach, which values timeless products, is at the very core of our business strategy. Packaging should be seen as an extension of our products and a major component of our customers’ buying decisions1. It is therefore essential for our members to retain the creative freedom to offer to their customers packaging that reflects the high quality, innovation, and creative know-how that they embody. We firmly believe that our ability to combine our products’ aesthetics and sustainability should not be mutually exclusive and that the PPWR should strike the right balance between both.

…and sustainability should not be mutually exclusive and that the PPWR should strike the right balance between both. The following section looks at some of the PPWR’s key provisions and their potential impact on our sector. Key provisions High-end cultural and creative industries are proud to have integrated sustainability commitments at the core of their products. As this regulation will undoubtedly have a strong impact on global supply chains, we encourage EU policymakers to consider the following guiding principles: ● Ensuring the highest level of harmonisation - The EU should set clear, binding objectives that can be applied and interpreted uniformly throughout the Single Market, therefore avoiding diverging environmental requirements at the EU level.

…uniformly throughout the Single Market, therefore avoiding diverging environmental requirements at the EU level. 1 72% of consumers say that the design of a product’s packaging often influences their purchasing decisions when selecting which products to buy (WGSN, The Power of Packaging, p. 3). Ref. Ares(2023)2763619 - 19/04/2023 2 ● Creating a level-playing field with third countries - Efficient controls are needed to prevent a distortion of competition that would be detrimental to EU businesses and “Made in Europe” products. ● Preserving our industry’s competitiveness & creative freedom - The implementation of new policies should not weaken the leadership of European high- end and luxury industries and preserve their ability to provide meaningful solutions and innovate while remaining competitive in the global market.

…preserve their ability to provide meaningful solutions and innovate while remaining competitive in the global market. ● Involving industry in the elaboration of sector-specific targets - Defining criteria for packaging design in collaboration with the industry which must be involved in the definition of sector-specific targets. ● Providing adequate time to adjust - When changes are deemed necessary, reasonable transition timelines should be provided, notably for existing products to find substitutions. Our suggestions I. Packaging minimization (Article 9 and Annex IV) Research & development as well as innovation have driven significant improvements in our product packaging sustainability.2 For example, the perfume industry is constantly innovating to reduce the environmental footprint of its glass packaging3 (reducing the thickness of bottles, incorporating recycled glass, etc.

…environmental footprint of its glass packaging3 (reducing the thickness of bottles, incorporating recycled glass, etc. while retaining purity, brilliance, and transparency). While we support the overall objective of packaging minimization, we believe that overly restrictive provisions could lead to the gradual standardization of packaging, which would have a catastrophic impact on our industries on several levels: - Increase in counterfeiting4, which is in constant geographical expansion. Its scope is now comparable to the strongest European industrial sectors. A standardization of packaging formats, in the perfumery and cosmetics or wine and spirits sectors for example, would unnecessarily facilitate the action of counterfeiters who would simply have to copy a few formats.

…for example, would unnecessarily facilitate the action of counterfeiters who would simply have to copy a few formats. Fake packaging would also lure the consumers into believing they are buying genuine products and thus potentially put their health at risk through the consumption of counterfeit products; 2 See examples from our members in Annex II. 3 in 2020, in the EU27 + the UK, on average 79% of glass packaging was collected for recycling (data published by Close the Glass Loop (link) 4 According to recent studies, the counterfeiting of alcoholic beverages remains a significant public health concern and has a substantial impact on both the legitimate sector and state revenue. Wine, spirits, distilled beverages, liqueurs and beer are all targets for counterfeiters.

…sector and state revenue. Wine, spirits, distilled beverages, liqueurs and beer are all targets for counterfeiters. In 2019, perfumes and cosmetics were the third most commonly seized IPR-infringing goods at the EU’s external border (in terms of the number of seizure procedures). These counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics were valued at approximately EUR 40 million at the time of the seizure. Packaging materials for perfumes became one of the most-seized fake goods at the EU’s external border in 2020. In 2019, packaging materials were the third most frequently encountered counterfeit articles seized at the EU’s external border, continuing the trend from 2018. In 2020, it was the top category.

…articles seized at the EU’s external border, continuing the trend from 2018. In 2020, it was the top category. In 2020, packaging materials were also among the five most frequently encountered categories of counterfeit articles seized in the internal market, together with the category of labels, tags and stickers. EUIPO & Europol (2022), Intellectual Property Crime Threat Assessment 2022, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (link) 3 - Impact on our global competitiveness, as competitors from outside the EU would retain the ability to offer more attractive packaging outside of Europe. As a reminder, high-end and luxury industries export on average 60% of their production5; - Disappearance of traditional European know-how.

…and luxury industries export on average 60% of their production5; - Disappearance of traditional European know-how. The standardization of packaging would put at risk thousands of European artisans’ jobs (e.g., glassmakers, wood and leather artisans) rooted in several generations of traditional European savoir- faire. In order to strike a balance between the Commission’s objective of packaging minimization while preventing the potentially devastating impact that packaging standardization would have on our industries, we would suggest the following adjustments:

…impact that packaging standardization would have on our industries, we would suggest the following adjustments: 1) Packaging is more than its mere “functionality”: Art. 9(1) states that “packaging shall be designed so that its weight and volume is reduced to the minimum necessary for ensuring its functionality”. We suggest clarifying that the minimization of packaging should be limited to “a given material and a given shape”, and in accordance with the definition of packaging in Article 3(1). By doing so, we believe a reasonable compromise would be struck between maintaining our brands’ creative freedom, while at the same time requiring them to limit the weight and volume of the packaging to a strict minimum.

…while at the same time requiring them to limit the weight and volume of the packaging to a strict minimum. 2) Protecting our brands’ intellectual property: Intellectual property rights play a vital role for sectors whose businesses rely directly on the added value of their innovations and on the tangible and intangible values of their products. We thus welcome the Commission’s proposal in Article 9(2) which legitimately considers that “Packaging (...) unless the packaging design is subject to geographical indications of origin protected under Union legislation”. To better protect EU’s heritage and creativity – through design, regional specificities, and know-how – as well as citizens from counterfeit products, we believe the draft proposal should be more ambitious and encompass all intellectual property rights.

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