Abstract The antimicrobial activity of 28 essential oil samples isolated from local plants or plants cultivated in Corsica was evaluated against a large panel of human pathogenic bacteria, including Campylobacter jejuni which appeared as a good model for this purpose. The chemical composition of the 18 oils selected for their efficiency was determined by GC and GC/MS. Among them, the oils of Cistus ladaniferus, Crithmum maritimum, Daucus carota, Juniperus communis, Mentha aquatica and Santolina corsica showed compositions without components known as active, suggesting the presence of compounds not previously described as antibacterial agents.