HOMONYMOUS NAMES OF WINES AND GRAPE VARIETIES 97 expectations of Slovenian wine producers. In particular, the Court found that the Commission had not led Slovenian wine producers to entertain well-founded expectations that no derogation with retroactive effect would be granted to Croatia concerning the use of the name “Teran” on the labels of wines produced on its territory. The Court fully upheld the Commission's arguments that Teran was also a grape variety in Croatia, so the exception was possible under EU rules to use the name without affecting Slovenian “Teran” wine producers, who preserve exclusive PDO rights. The Court did not follow Slovenia’s argument that the derogation from the prohibition of using grape variety names in labelling was disproportionate, since the grape variety name “Teran” can also be described by the synonym “Istrijanac”. 5.4. Aftermath In its first reaction to the judgment, the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food stated that Slovenia was dissatisfied with the General Court’s decision and was already looking into the possibility of filing an appeal before the Court of Justice of the EU54. However, two months later, after consulting with "Teran" wine producers and assessing the likelihood of success of the appeal, the Ministry announced that Slovenia would not challenge the Court’s decision. According to all participants, the realisation of the initiative for cross-border protection of the designation of origin for “Teran” wine, which could not be implemented in the event of an appeal, could significantly increase the added value for winemakers in the entire Karst plateau, which extends across the border of Slovenia and Italy. Since Autumn 2015, winemakers from the Slovenian and Italian sides of the Karst have been negotiating the possibility of extending the existing PDO “Teran” to the entire Karst plateau, where identical soil and climate conditions give the specific characteristics to the wine produced there. On the Italian side of the Karst plateau, wine with the characteristics of Teran wine is produced mainly by members of Slovene ethnic minority in Italy55. 54 Press release by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia, 9 September 2020, available in: https://www.gov.si/novice/2020-09-09-splosno-sodisce-eu-z-nepravnomocno-sodbo-zavrnilo-tozboslovenije/ (last accessed on 23.12.2020). 55 Press release of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia, 17 November 2020, available in: https://www.gov.si/novice/2020-11-17-slovenija-se-ne-bo-pritozila-na-odlocitev-sodisca-eu-gledeizjeme-pri-oznacevanju-vina-teran/ (last accessed on 23.12.2020).
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