The Political and Economic Consequences of the BALDASSI Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 11 June 2020.

Abstract

In a landmark ruling handed down by unanimous decision on 11 June 2020 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a scathing disavowal of French authorities who violated the freedom of expression of BDS campaigners calling for a boycott of Israeli products in supermarkets in Alsace in 2010. Legally, the ruling renders the ministers of Justice Mrs. Alliot-Marie and Mr. Mercier circulars (2010&2012) which penalized BDS in France null and void and pours scorn on the official discourse of stigmatization of the BDS campaign. Politically, it will stop the lobbying of Israel and CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) to abusively describe BDS as pure antisemitism. If the economic consequences of the lifting of the French penalization of the BDS campaign are more difficult to evaluate, they will undoubtedly be more significant on the long term, in link with the recent ruling dated 12 November 2019 by the Court of Justice of the European Union which imposes a separate and specific labelling in the UE for goods made in Israeli settlements.