Earlier this month, the General Court ruled that the European Commission is not bound by the earlier assessment of national authorities when examining applications for geographical indications (T-34/22, so far only available in French). The dispute behind this ruling related to two groups of charcuterie products originating from France.
National stage of the registration
In 2014, “Jambon sec de Corse”, “Lonzo de Corse” and “Coppa de Corse” were registered as protected designations of origin (PDOs). Jambon sec, lonzo and coppa are varieties of cold cuts that are traditional in the French island of Corsica (but also in other areas of France and in Italy, respectively). “De Corse” stands for “from Corsica” in French.
In 2015, the Consortium of Corsican Butchers applied to register seven protected geographical indications (PGIs). Among others, the list included “Jambon sec de l’Île de Beauté”, “Coppa de l’Île de Beauté”, and “Lonzo de l’Île de Beauté”. The Island of Beauty, “l’Île de Beauté”, is a popular French nickname for Corsica. In 2018, the French authorities pre-approved the seven applications and transferred them to the European Commission for their registration as PGIs. Read more