The EU interinstitutional agreement on the text strengthening the system of agricultural geographical indications “includes many of the European Parliament’s demands”, said rapporteur Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italian) on Wednesday 25 October.
Addressing Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, Paolo De Castro explained that the agreement reached with the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13278/1) creates for the first time a true single European text on quality products, which will guarantee “greater harmonisation and clarity among all sectors, including the wine sector”.
At the same time, certain rules applicable to wine, such as labelling and the control system, will be maintained in the regulation relating to the common organisation of the market (CMO), “which will make it possible to preserve its specificity”, he said. The rules on sustainability and the protection of GIs fall within the scope of the horizontal regulation on GIs.
In terms of the criteria for recognising producer groups, national systems such as Italy’s, which are already working effectively, have been safeguarded, explained the rapporteur.
Online protection will be strengthened by a geo-blocking system, which will oblige Member States to block access to any content evoking a geographical indication, and by an alert system to be developed by the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
The protection of GIs used as ingredients will require processors to indicate on the label the percentage of the GI product in the processed product and to prohibit the use of other products comparable to the GI.
Clear deadlines have been set for the Commission’s examination of applications for the registration and modification of GI characteristics. These deadlines have been reduced to 6 months, which can be extended by a further 5 months only if the application is incomplete and additional information needs to be provided.
Additionally, only changes with a real impact on the single market will need to be approved by the European Commission. All other changes will have to be dealt with exclusively at national level (including the possibility for PDO products to temporarily derogate from the minimum quotas for the use of feed from the production area).
The role of the EUIPO. The number of files that will have to be analysed at European level will therefore be considerably reduced, which means that the EUIPO will have to become more involved, particularly in the phase of examining amendments to specifications. The EUIPO will be able to provide important support on administrative issues and contribute to the protection and promotion of GIs, in particular through the development of an online European register of geographical indications.
As part of the compromise on the GI text, the Council and Parliament made a joint statement indicating that the Commission may be assisted by external bodies. It will therefore be up to the EUIPO to decide what type of relationship it wishes to have with the Commission. For the Commission, this political declaration means that the political compromise does not prejudge the continuation of cooperation with the EUIPO on the basis of the 2018 memorandum of understanding. The Commission therefore clearly intends to continue its cooperation with the EUIPO, provided that the Commission assumes full political responsibility for the files that are adopted.
The European Parliament Committee on Agriculture will probably approve the text at its meeting on 27 and 28 November, and the Parliament plenary should give the green light in January or February 2024. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)