Limoges porcelain, Basque beret, Marseille soap, Gien earthenware, Tahitian monoi, Liffol headquarters… These French products, like the famous Murano glass from Italy or Polish ceramics from Boleslawiec, should soon benefit from European protection of their authenticity, origin and quality. On Wednesday 13 April, the Commission proposed a framework to protect geographical indications (GIs) of artisanal and industrial products, in order to help producers better defend their know-how throughout the European Union (EU) and even beyond its borders. “Europe has an exceptional heritage. It is time that producers in this sector also benefit from an intellectual property right”said Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market.
Indeed, the Commission is inspired by the model and the success of geographical indications which already benefit, at European level, food products, wines and spirits. GIs act as a guarantee of quality and can boost the reputation of products, or even tourism in their places of origin. The European Parliament has been calling for extending this protection to other areas (jewellery, textiles, lace, cutlery, glass, porcelain, etc.) since 2015 and estimates that this would increase from 4.9% to 6.6% (37.6 billion to 50 billion euros) the exports of these products over twenty years. In addition, approximately 330,000 new jobs could be created in the regions concerned.
Currently, the protection of the intellectual rights of craft and industrial products is managed by each Member State, at national level. The rules therefore vary from one country to another, as do the legal guarantees granted. Producers wishing to protect a GI throughout the EU must apply in each of the 27, which can sometimes be too costly for small or medium-sized companies such as those which often specialize in crafts.
The new regulation therefore aims to establish a harmonized European system within the single market. The Commission proposes a “simplified” registration procedure during which producers submit their applications for GIs to the national authorities, before the Member States take them to the European Union Office for Intellectual Property, which will have the last word.
Fight against counterfeiting
To obtain the European label, the product must come from a specific place (one or more regions, even a country), that it enjoys a reputation linked to its geographical origin and that at least one stage of production is performed at this location. More than 800 products could benefit from it, including a hundred tricolor products.
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