EU General Court Judgment in Case T-34/22 Consortium des Charcutiers Corses and Others v EU Commission

Wednesday 12th July 2023

General Court

Judgment in Case T-34/22 Cunsorziu di i Salamaghji Corsi – Consortium des Charcutiers Corses and Others v Commission

(Agriculture and Fisheries)

The names ‘Jambon sec de Corse’/’Jambon sec de Corse – Prisuttu’, ‘Lonzo de Corse’/’Lonzo de Corse – Lonzu’ and ‘Coppa de Corse’/’Coppa de Corse – Coppa di Corsica’ were registered as protected designations of origin (PDO) in 2014.

In 2015, the Cunsorziu di i Salamaghji Corsi – Consortium des Charcutiers Corses (hereinafter the “Consortium”) applied to the French national authorities, pursuant to Regulation No 1151/2012 , to register the names “Jambon sec de l’Île de Beauté”, “Lonzo de l’Ȋle de Beauté” and “Coppa de l’Ȋle de Beauté” as protected geographical indications (PGI).

In 2018, these authorities issued orders approving the corresponding specifications, with a view to forwarding them to the European Commission for approval.

The union holding the specifications for the PDOs ‘Jambon sec de Corse – Prisuttu’, ‘Lonzo de Corse – Lonzu’ and ‘Coppa de Corse – Coppa di Corsica’ applied to the Conseil d’État (France) to have these decrees annulled.

It argued that the term “Île de Beauté” imitated or evoked the term “Corse” and therefore introduced confusion with the names already registered as PDOs. The Conseil d’État rejected the claim on the grounds that the use of different terms and the difference in the protection afforded by a PDO and a PGI were such as to rule out the risk of confusion.

The Conseil d’État rejected this application, on the grounds, in particular, that the use of different terms and the difference in the protection conferred by a PDO, on the one hand, and by a PGI, on the other, were such as to rule out this risk of confusion.

However, in its implementing decision 2021/1879 , the Commission refused to register the names ‘Jambon sec de l’Ȋle de Beauté’, ‘Lonzo de l’Ȋle de Beauté’ and ‘Coppa de l’Île de Beauté’ as PGIs. It considered, inter alia, that it was common knowledge that the name ‘Île de Beauté’ was a customary circumlocution univocally designating Corsica in the eyes of French consumers. The proposed names would therefore infringe the protection granted to the PDOs concerned by Regulation 1151/2012. As a result, they do not meet the conditions for eligibility for registration.

The Consortium and certain of its members brought an action against this decision before the General Court.

Background Documents T-34/22