Activities of Eugenia RODRÍGUEZ PALOP related to 2022/0089(COD)
Plenary speeches (2)
Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)
Geographical Indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Union geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, and quality schemes for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/787 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012
Amendments (20)
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Commission Communication of 20 May 2020 on 'A Farm to Fork Strategy - for a fair, healthy and environmentally- friendly food system' which called for a transition to sustainable food systems, also calls to strengthen the legislative framework on geographical indications and, where appropriate, include specific sustainability criteria. In the Communication, the Commission committed to strengthen, among other players, the position of producers of products with geographical indications, their cooperatives and producer organisations in the food supply chain. Focus should be put on the small-scale producers, especially those who best preserve traditional skills and know-how.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) In its communication of 30 June 2021 "A long-term Vision for the EU's Rural Areas - Towards stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas by 2040", the Commission refers to geographical indications as part of the flagship initiatives promoting prosperous rural areas, considering their contribution to the diversification and development of rural areas. It acknowledges the benefits of demonstrating the compatibility of their production with nature conservation.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Citizens and consumers in the Union increasingly demand quality as well as traditional products. They are also concerned to maintain the diversity of agricultural production in the Union. This generates a demand for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products with identifiable specific characteristics, in particular those linked to their geographical origin as well as guaranteeing the production conditions that have shaped its reputation and identity.
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11 a (new)
Recital 11 a (new)
(11a) The EU's quality policy is a public policy associated with the production of public goods that should contribute to enable a just and fair sustainable food system transition. Geographical indications are tools capable of contributing to: sustainable rural development; the diversification of the rural economy; the prevention of delocalisation and depopulation by creating and preserving jobs in European rural areas and sustaining small scale, local and traditional producers; preserving cultural and socio-economic diversity; protecting the rural landscape; the sustainable management and reproduction of natural resources; biodiversity conservation; animal welfare; and food safety and security as well as traceability.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) To contribute to the transition to a sustainable food system and respond to societal demands for sustainable, environmentally and climate friendly, animal welfare ensuring, resource efficient, socially and ethically responsible production methods, producers of geographical indications should be encouraged to adhere to sustainability standards that are more stringent than the mandatory ones and go beyond good practice, encompassing environmental, social and economic objectives. Such specific requirements cshould be set out in the product specification.
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12a) Sustainability undertakings should contribute to one or more environmental, social or economic objectives. Such environmental objectives should include, inter alia, climate change mitigation, the conservation and sustainable use of soils, landscapes and natural resources, the preservation of biodiversity and the conservation of rare seeds, local breeds and plant varieties, the promotion of short supply chains or the management and promotion of animal health and welfare. As for the social objectives, they should include inter alia, the improvement of working and employment condition, as well as collective bargaining, social protection and safety standards, attracting and supporting both young and new GI producers to ease generational renewal and facilitating the solidarity and transmission of knowledge across generations or promoting healthier diets. And the economic objectives should include, inter alia, securing a stable and fair income and a strong position across the value chain for GI producers, improving the economic value of GI products and the redistribution of added value along the value chain, contributing to the diversification of the rural economy, or preserving rural areas and local development, including agricultural employment.
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 b (new)
Recital 12 b (new)
(12b) Public procurement criteria should incorporate geographical indications and other quality schemes as long as they contribute to sustainable food production.
Amendment 159 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Producer groups play an essential role in the management of their geographical indications, including, in the application process for the registration of geographical indications, as well as in the amendment of specifications and cancellation requests. They should be equipped with the means to better identify and market the specific characteristics of their products as well as adequate resources to perform their powers and responsibilities. The role of the producer group should hence be clarified.
Amendment 177 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39
Recital 39
(39) The procedures for registration, amendment and cancellation of geographical indications, including the scrutiny and the opposition procedure, should be carried out in the most efficient way. This can be achieved by using the assistance for the scrutiny of the applications provided by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), concerning the areas of intellectual property within its remit. While a partial outsourcing to EUIPO has been considered, the Commission would remain responsible for registration, amendment and cancellation, due to a strong relation with the Common Agricultural Policy and to the expertise needed to ensure that specificities of wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products are adequately assessed.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39 a (new)
Recital 39 a (new)
(39a) The EUIPO will contribute to the functioning of the EU geographical indications system by providing technical assistance and offering its expertise on intellectual property as well as on the performance of tasks related to the protection of geographical indications, including on the internet, hence strengthening the protection of GIs. Also, the EUIPO and the competent authorities of the Member States should cooperate with each other to promote tools and convergence of IPR practices in the field of geographical indications.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 56
Recital 56
(56) In order to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of defining sustainability standards and laying down criteria for the recognition of existing sustainability standards; clarifying or adding items to be supplied as part of accompanying information; entrusting the EUIPO with the tasks related to scrutiny for opposition and the opposition procedure, operation of the register, publication of standard amendments to a product specification, consultation in the context of cancellation procedure, establishment and management of an alert system informing applicants about the availability of their geographical indication as a domain name, scrutiny of third country geographical indications other than geographical indications under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications34 , proposed for protection pursuant to international negotiations or international agreements; establishing appropriate criteria for monitoring performance of the EUIPO in the execution of the tasks entrusted to it; laying down additional rules on the use of geographical indications to identify ingredients in processed products; laying down additional rules for determining the generic status of terms; establishing the restrictions and derogations with regard to the sourcing of feed in the case of a designation of origin; establishing restrictions and derogations with regard to the slaughtering of live animals or with regard to the sourcing of raw materials; laying down rules for determining the use of the denomination of a plant variety or of an animal breed; laying down rules which limit the information contained in the product specification for geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down further details of the eligibility criteria for traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down additional rules to provide for appropriate certification and accreditation procedures to apply in respect of product certification bodies; laying down additional rules to further detail protection of traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down for traditional specialities guaranteed additional rules for determining the generic status of terms, conditions for use of plant variety and animal breed denominations, and relation to intellectual property rights; defining additional rules for joint applications concerning more than one national territory and complementing the rules of the application process for traditional specialities guaranteed guaranteed; complementing the rules for the opposition procedure for traditional specialities guaranteed to establish detailed procedures and deadlines; supplementing the rules regarding the amendment application process for traditional specialities guaranteed; supplementing the rules regarding the cancellation process for traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down detailed rules relating to the criteria for optional quality terms; reserving an additional optional quality term, laying down its conditions of use; laying down derogations to the use of the term ‘mountain product’ and establishing the methods of production, and other criteria relevant for the application of that optional quality term, in particular, laying down the conditions under which raw materials or feedstuffs are permitted to come from outside the mountain areas. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making35 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. _________________ 34 https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/detail s.jsp?id=3983 35 OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.
Amendment 334 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
1. A producer group may agree on sustainability undertakings to be adhered to in the production of the product designated by a geographical indication. Such undertakings shall aim to apply a sustainability standard higher than mandated by Union or national law and go beyond good practice in significant respects in terms of social, environmental or, economic or animal health and welfare undertakings. Such undertakings shall be specific, shall take account of existing sustainable practices employed for products designated by geographical indications, and may refer to existing sustainability schemes.
Amendment 355 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 a (new)
Article 12 a (new)
Article 12a Sustainability report 1. By 1 January 2026, producer groups shall prepare a sustainability report comprising a description of the impacts of the method of obtaining the product on sustainability, in terms of social, environmental, economic or animal health and welfare commitments, and information necessary to understand how sustainability affects the development, performance and position of the product, as well as proposals on how to enhance it. 2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts setting out the format and the online presentation of the report provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).
Amendment 404 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Article 19 – paragraph 1
1. Within 3 months from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the single document and the reference to the product specification pursuant to Article 17(4), the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a third country, may lodge an opposition or a notice of comment with the Commission.
Amendment 407 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 2
2. Any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a Member State other than the one from which the Union application for registration was submitted, may lodge an opposition with the Member State, in which it is established or resident, within a time limit permitting an opposition or notice of comments to be lodged pursuant to paragraph (1).
Amendment 422 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 9
Article 19 – paragraph 9
9. After completion of the opposition procedure, the Commission shall finalise its assessment of the Union application for registration, taking into account any request for transitional periods, the outcome of the opposition procedure, any notice of comments received and any other matters arising subsequently to its scrutiny that may imply a change of the single document.
Amendment 439 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 a (new)
Article 20 a (new)
Article 20a Notice of comment procedure 1. In order to correct inaccuracies in an ongoing registration procedure for a geographical indication, a competent authority of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest and established or resident in a third country or in another Member State may lodge a notice of comment with the Commission within three months of the date of publication of the single document and the product specification reference in the Union register. 2. The notice of comment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be based on the grounds for opposition referred to in Article 19. The competent authority or person that lodges a notice of comment shall not be considered to be a party to the procedure. 3. The Commission shall share the notice of comment with the applicant and shall take the notice of comment into consideration when deciding on the application of the registration, unless it is unclear or obviously incorrect. 4. In order to facilitate the management of the notice of comment procedure, the Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the submission of such notice of comments and specifying their format and online presentation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).
Amendment 470 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 5
Article 25 – paragraph 5
5. A standard amendment shall be considered as a temporary amendment when it concerns a temporary change in the product specification resulting from the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures by the public authorities or a temporary amendment necessary because of the consequences of a natural disaster or adverse weather conditions or exceptional geopolitical event formally recognised by the competent authorities.
Amendment 491 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 5
Article 26 – paragraph 5
5. Before adopting the implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the Commission shall consult the authorities of the Member State, the authorities of the third country or, where possible, the third country producer which had originally applied for the registration of the geographical indication concerned, unless the cancellation is directly requested by those original applicants. The registration of the name on the market and its protection under another intellectual property right shall be prohibited for a period of at least 10 years following the date of cancellation of a geographical indication.
Amendment 706 #
Proposal for a regulation
Title III
Title III