A 713-resident Swiss village called Champagne is fuming over rulings by a Paris court that bar local producers from putting the village name on wine or baked goods. The legal pressure stems from a broader EU-Switzerland agreement in which Bern surrendered naming rights to protect Swiss airline access to European airspace.
The village mayor, who also owns the local bakery affected by the biscuit ruling, compared France's conduct to bullying by a superpower. Residents staged a weekend demonstration, using a tractor to topple a village signpost draped in a French flag. A lawyer for the bakery confirmed an appeal is planned. A village committee spokesman framed the dispute as one of cultural identity, noting that families there have produced wine for generations.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2008, in its own words.