The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to defend ‘shechita’, the Jewish ritual slaughter, in Europe and to oppose a regulation that would introduce a labelling "which would lead to stigmatisation."
In a letter to Sarkozy, CER President Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt said his organization remains concerned about future debates within European institutions on this issue.
"The speech you gave on 3rd March on this subject has sown confusion within our communities. Your clarifications regarding the voluntary nature of such labelling were a step towards appeasement," he wrote in reference to Sarkozy’s proposal made at an election campaign meeting to impose the ticketing of meat according to its method of slaughter.
"France has always been a fierce defender of the Jewish community’s fundamental rights in Europe and in particular of ritual slaughter," Rabbi Goldschmidt said in his letter.
"France has not only fought against those who wished to abolish it but has also expressed its opposition to the stigmatising measure of labelling meat issued from animals that have been slaughtered without prior stunning. We know your personal commitment to this issue, and on behalf of Europe’s Jewish communities, we are very grateful."
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon caused an uproar earlier this month when he declared that the Jewish and Muslim "ancestral traditions" of ritual slaughter were "outdated and unjustified." He later clarified his comments during a meeting with Jewish leaders, saying that there was no intention to question ritual slaughter in France.
France's Chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim is Vice President of the Conference of European Rabbis.