60 WINE LAW Interestingly, in 2012 (the year prior to the current Regulation for geographical designations was passed), the Commission, through a Communication42, voiced its interest in studying the legal framework affording protection for non-agricultural products; the reason being that this framework’s fragmentation “may negatively affect the functioning of the internal market”. This led the Commission – as stated by the document – to carry out “a feasibility study on the issue of GIs for non-agricultural and non-food products”. In March 2013, the Commission published a “Study on the protection of geographical indications for non-agricultural products in the internal market”43, which concluded that current legal instruments, both national and European, available to producers, were insufficient. Following this study, the Commission published, in July 2014, the already mentioned Green Paper, aiming to consult all stakeholders on whether it was necessary to extend the protection of GIs to non-agricultural products, and if it was so, which approach should be adopted – the consultation period ended in October of that year. The European institutions are currently assessing the impact of the apparently unstoppable extension of the protection system for non-agricultural products. It would be vital that the future regulation of those European geographical designations should not water-down the DOs’ protection system, which should continue dealing solely with agri-food, as will be discussed below. The forthcoming changes could, indeed, strengthen designations of origin, the truly well-established status in Europe, setting sharper limits away from geographical indications, which, as defined by the 2012 Regulation, might well open up to a variety of other products. It should be noted that the European institutions, in the documents mentioned above, refer to “geographical indications” in very broad terms, without distinguishing designations of origin from geographical indications. However, in all likelihood, a specific regulation on geographical indications (as a subtype) for industrial products and handicrafts will be passed with distinct definitions, procedure and registration44. 42 The Communication was “A Single Market for Intellectual Property Rights Boosting creativity and innovation to provide economic growth, high quality jobs and first class products and services in Europe” [COM (2011) 287 final, of 24 May 2011]. 43 The study was conducted by Insight Consulting, REDD and OriGIn. The English version is available in: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/docs/geo-indications/130322_geo-indications-nonagri-study_en.pdf (last accessed on 22 November 2020). 44 In the resolution passed in Parliament, it urged that “this system should be accompanied by the setting up of a single European Register, regulated and public, of the non-agricultural products that enjoy protection under the geographical indication status, for the purpose of promoting handicrafts and informing and protecting both consumers and producers, avoiding unnecessary administrative fees”.
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