I believe it’s to protect the French perfumery industry. It’s not for “wholesome” reasons.
I believe likewise, but the group of interests and pressure are wider than that. There are many powerful lobby groups of interests pressing government regulations towards their own interests, not only IFRA, and it goes beyond the perfumery industry stricto sensu, but also cosmetics industry, wellness industry, and pharma (and beyond that food industries as well)
There is a conscience that many people today want naturals, and also that one can make much better cosmetics (for example) with good quality naturals and they will be less expensive than the branded "luxury" stuff, so those there started to be nervousness among shareholder only profit driven groups which lobbied for the last 15 years with the same kind of cynicism than say, the american war n weapons industry lobby.
As a result this has completely changed the legal landscape in EU and little actors have defacto been put out of business (or forced to operate illegally) by the new pack of regulations. Switzerland, which is not in the EU, was pressured during the last negotiations of their bilateral agreements with EU to accept those new laws that where pushed by the EU and put in the balance with more important things for the Swiss governement (access to European research programs, workers and goods circulation, etc) so they pragmatically accepted.
In my town the artisan cosmetic makers now operate like during prohibition era : they keep their own artisanal productions hidden locked and only show them to clients they know personally, and they try to keep their business open by selling some stuff they often don't like, but is legally approved, and offering new services. The legal way is only possible for bigger actors as each product now needs obligatory lab tests that reach here 2K-4K$ per product. My favourite maker is considering closing down as a direct results of those new laws.
I am currently working with legal experts here to try to find small ways around things that allows a natural perfumer to work, because otherwise you do risk for huge fines and irreversible confiscation of your full inventory, which I have seen happen in my own state (which a small state within the country). But honestly it is a nightmare. I am also trying to contribute raising of consciousness around locally and work with others to find legal ways what can. But it is complicated and I am pessimistic as the evolution of things has been consistently getting worse for years and years and the lobby groups are not getting any weaker or less proactive, to the contrary (in EU, at least).