On the morning of 12 August 1999, some 300 people, livestock farmers, smallholders and trade union activists, gathered on the building site of the future McDonald's restaurant in Millau, in the Aveyron. According to AFP, they were members of the Confédération paysanne or of the Syndicat des producteurs de lait de brebis. The building under construction was partly dismantled: according to the INA, half of the site was reportedly destroyed, without any intervention by the police.
The spokesman of the Confédération paysanne, José Bové, made a speech on the spot. That morning would earn him an unsuspended three-month prison sentence, upheld all the way to the Court of Cassation.
Roquefort caught up in a transatlantic trade dispute
The action was aimed first and foremost at United States trade policy. The European Union bans imports of hormone-treated beef. The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) had ruled this ban contrary to the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, “as it is not scientifically founded”, a ministerial answer published in the Journal officiel points out.
As Europe maintained its embargo, at the end of July 1999 the WTO authorised the United States to apply sanctions of up to 116.8 million dollars a year. Washington then imposed 100% customs duties on a list of European products. On the French side, mustard, foie gras, chocolate, truffles and Roquefort, the emblematic cheese of the Millau region, were among the products affected. According to the French government, France alone bore 24% of the US sanctions.
Nineteen days in pre-trial detention
On 19 August 1999, an arrest warrant was issued against five farmers from the Aveyron, including José Bové, the INA reports. Placed in pre-trial detention at the Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone remand prison, in the Hérault, he initially refused to pay the bail of 105,000 francs required for his release.
He eventually agreed to it: according to AFP, after a donation “from a union of small farmers in Texas”. He was released from prison on 7 September 1999. These nineteen days of detention would later be deducted from his sentence.
A trial watched by thousands of demonstrators
On 30 June 2000, José Bové and nine other defendants appeared before the Millau criminal court. According to a Radio France report preserved by the INA, his co-defendants “do not recognise José Bové as the organiser of the demonstration”.
Thousands of people gathered in the town during the trial; concerts, shows, talks and debates were organised. At the hearing, the prosecutor explained, according to France 2, that he was not there to judge a cause, but facts.
Judgment was delivered on 13 September 2000. Regarded as “the instigator and coordinator” of the operation, José Bové was given an unsuspended three-month prison sentence, a heavier penalty than the one sought by the prosecution. His co-defendants received fines or suspended prison sentences of up to two months; one of them was acquitted. José Bové appealed, as did eight of his companions according to the INA.
From Montpellier to the Court of Cassation
The appeal hearing opened on 15 February 2001 before the Montpellier Court of Appeal, where José Bové was at the time being tried in several separate cases. In March 2001, the court upheld the unsuspended three-month prison sentence. The activist appealed to the Court of Cassation.
On 6 February 2002, the Court of Cassation upheld the conviction for “damage to the property of others committed jointly” and for threatening damage dangerous to persons. According to Inf'OGM, the “state of necessity” relied on by the defence was not accepted, as this notion presupposes a current or imminent danger. The conviction became final.
According to The Independent, its enforcement had been deferred until after the presidential and parliamentary elections of spring 2002, and a presidential pardon was widely expected. On 19 June 2002, José Bové went to Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone prison at the head of a convoy of tractors. According to the Associated Press, he was released on 1 August 2002, before the end of his sentence; AFP puts this second period of detention at forty-four days.
The restaurant, its owner and the complaint
The targeted restaurant had a local owner, Marc Dehani. In October 1999, he estimated the damage at 120,000 dollars, according to the New York Times; in 2000 the Chicago Tribune gave a figure of 110,000 dollars. The New York daily noted that McDonald's had chosen not to bring a civil action against José Bové.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the local owner and the group's French subsidiary, McDonald's France, withdrew their complaint against the farmers. The INA points out that, at the time of the Court of Cassation judgment, the Millau McDonald's had “long since withdrawn its complaint”. The group's spokesman, Walt Riker, stated that McDonald's had nothing to do with the criminal proceedings.
“Eighty per cent of our restaurants are owned and operated by individual entrepreneurs.”Walt Riker, McDonald's spokesman, quoted by the Chicago Tribune, 13 September 2000 - translated from English
The construction was merely delayed. By mid-October 1999, the New York Times was already describing a busy McDonald's in Millau. In August 2002, the Associated Press reported that it was still in business.
The episode highlights a particular feature of the franchise model. The Millau restaurant was targeted in protest against a US trade decision, even though it was run by a local owner. This was in fact the argument McDonald's put forward at the time: according to the New York Times, the group pointed out that its franchises in France belong to French people, employ French staff and sell almost exclusively products grown in France.