Luxembourg, 20/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - Advocate General Jacobs is recommending that the European Court of rule that it is illegal for France to apply the term 'gold' to jewellery of at least 750 thousandths (18 carat) and 'gold alloy' to jewellery of 375 or 585 thousandths (9 or 14 carats).
He says the system is 'opaque' because without further information, consumers might believe that 'gold' articles are made of pure gold, while 'gold alloy' articles are made of a lesser quality metal. It does not enable consumers to know that articles of 18 carats are also gold alloys, because they contain 25% of other materials (pure gold is 24 carats, but this is felt to be too soft to be fashioned into jewellery).
At very least, France's distinction between 'gold' and 'gold alloy' is superficial, explains the Advocate General, and hinders the circulation of goods since most 'gold alloy' goods are imported. It is not possible to seriously contend that 'gold' is not a more attractive label for jewellery than 'gold alloy', he asserts.
The arguments put forward by the French government - simplicity and removing confusion that could be caused by more technical information - are weakened, notes Jacobs, by the fact that the government announced in a letter on 7 February 2001 that it was planning to entirely scrap the differentiation. The Commission's proceedings against France date from 10 April 2003, following a complaint it had received.
The Commission and the Advocate General are calling for the cancellation of a distinction set out in Article 522b of the French general tax code, on retail sales to individuals. 'Gold alloy' goods have to state the percentage of gold, but the law does not set out whether the same information is required of 'gold' goods, comments Francis Jacobs.