Luxembourg, 28/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 June the Advocate General Ján Mazák submitted his conclusions in the Parmesan case (C-132/05) and proposed that the European Court of Justice reject the action brought by the Commission against Germany (EUROPE 9364). The European executive took the country to court for not having taken any measures against the commercialisation of German produced “Parmesan”. According to the Commission, Parmesan is a translation of “Parmigiano” and this label could lead to confusion with the cheese since it does not conform to the specification of designation of origin, “Parmigiano Reggiano” and therefore infringed Community law.
In its defence Germany said that the Italian term “Parmigiano Reggiano” was protected by the AOC and that the name “Parmesan” has become a generic term to describe the same kind of cheeses in several Union member states, without any obvious reference to the AOC in the consciousness of the average consumer. Mazák also declared that after having followed the arguments of the Commission, he did not see why it was up to Germany to take voluntary measures against the commercialisation of Parmesan for not meeting AOC stipulated criteria on Parmigiano Reggiano, particularly because of the absence of any application or complaint lodged by one of the parties for being the injured party, apart from the procedures begun by the Commission. (cd)