EU Member States were divided on Monday 20 February over the tasks to be assigned to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) regarding geographical indications (GIs) for agricultural products.
The Swedish Presidency of the EU Council has put three options on the table of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) (see EUROPE 13120/9):
- no role for the EUIPO regarding GIs for agricultural products, wines and spirits (exclusive competence of the Commission). This option was reportedly supported by a few countries, including Italy, Malta and Greece;
- administrative tasks for this agency (management of the EU registry and a domain name information and alert system): a group of ‘southern European’ countries (including France, Spain and Portugal) as well as Poland, in particular, would favour this option;
- a role for the EUIPO in assisting the Commission with applications for registration (preliminary assessment, with the final decision on applications remaining with the Commission).
The latter option, supported by Germany, the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia, among others, is largely based on the current practice of the last 5 years.
According to an EU source, the majority of delegations have either expressed their preference for option 3 or indicated that they would accept this option if their preferred scenario was not retained. Option 3 was reportedly also advocated by the European Commission at this SCA meeting.
MEPs in Alicante. In the European Parliament, discussions are underway on the competences to be conferred on the EUIPO in this reform of the GI system.
Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italian), European Parliament rapporteur on GIs, reportedly suggested a compromise whereby the Commission could call on the expertise of the EUIPO if necessary.
Several MEPs, including De Castro, have been invited to Alicante, Spain, on 22 and 23 February to see the work of the EUIPO in examining GI applications for themselves. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)