At the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 5 December, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council said that while considerable progress has been made at Member State level on some parts of the geographical indication proposal, three issues have proved particularly difficult.
The three problematic issues are mainly the transfer of tasks to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the proposed provisions on producer groups (in particular recognised producer groups), and the protection of geographical rights in domain names.
During the SCA, some delegations (e.g. Germany, Finland, Belgium, Austria and Spain) were open about the competences to be entrusted to the EUIPO, whereas others stated that the EUIPO should only be responsible for administrative, IT and legal assistance, while the evaluation of the quality of applications should remain the responsibility of the European Commission.
Others, including Italy, opposed any involvement of the EUIPO (see EUROPE 13047/7).
As regards producer groups, the delegations stressed the need to keep the system as simple as possible and without adding administrative burdens. Many delegations supported the deletion of the proposed provisions on this matter. Others argued that the system could be made voluntary rather than mandatory. With regard to domain names, some delegations stated that they would like to see the same approach adopted for geographical indications as for craft and industrial products.
The European Commission insisted on the need to maintain the status quo on the current administrative arrangement with the EUIPO. The Commission assured that DG AGRI will be the only body to take the final decision.
At the ‘Agriculture’ Council on 12 December, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council will present a progress report on the issue of geographical indications. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)