This is part of the European Commission's Sharp and Efficient Regulation (REFIT) program, aimed at making EU legislation simpler, less costly and future-proof.

Publication of the regulation is envisaged by 2024.

More autonomy for producers

The proposal meets two general objectives:

• ensuring effective protection of intellectual property rights in the Union, including efficient registration processes, in order to reward producers fairly for the efforts they make,
• increasing the use of GIs throughout the Union to the benefit of the rural economy.

They break down into six specific objectives:

1. improving GI protection, particularly on the Internet,
2. rationalizing and clarifying the legal framework in order to simplify and harmonize procedures for applying to register new names and amending specifications. In this context, it is planned that the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will examine applications for registration and modification of the Union's PDO, PGI and GI spirit drinks, under the authority of the European Commission,
3. contributing to improving the sustainability of the Union's food system by offering the possibility of including,in specifications, commitments to sustainability
4. give producer groups the means to better manage their GIs, in particular by recognizing specific responsibilities such as combating counterfeiting.
5. improve the information given to consumers through the logo and labeling,
6. reconduct the Traditional Specialties Guaranteed and enhanced mentions (mountain product) systems.

An incomplete unification

The draft regulation governs:

• PDOs, PGIs wines and agricultural products as well as GIs spirit drinks for procedures relating to specifications, rules on producer groups, protection rules;
• agricultural products and spirit drinks for control rules;
• agricultural products for rules on Traditional Specialities Guaranteed and optional quality mentions.

This draft regulation does not unify everything. Indeed, the definitions of PDO and PGI for wine and GI for spirits, the content of specifications, and the single document in particular, remain within the Common Market Organization for wines and regulation 2019/787. The wine industry thus retains its control system in the single CMO regulation.

Find out more about the proposed regulation.