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| The Court of Justice declares that the listing of the Slovak wine name ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ in the E-Bacchus register of protected designations of origin does not constitute an actionable measure - That listing, made on the basis of a transitional regime, cannot be challenged before the courts of the European Union
The wine-growing region of Tokaj is located in both Hungary and Slovakia.
At the request of the Slovak Republic, the Commission registered the protected designation of origin ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ in the list of quality wines produced in specified regions (quality wines psr). That list, which was drawn up on the basis of national legislation governing the conditions for using registered designations of origin, was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 17 February 2006 and then on 10 May 2007.
On 31 July 2009, that is to say, one day before the entry into force of the new wine regime and the introduction of the ‘electronic register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications for wine’ (E-Bacchus database1), a new list of quality wines psr was published. On that occasion, the protected designation of origin published in the earlier lists was amended at Slovakia’s request to become ‘Tokajská/Tokajské/Tokajsky vinohradnícka oblast’’.
The E-Bacchus database replaced the publication of the lists of quality wines psr. According to the new list of 31 July 2009, the protected designation of origin ‘Tokajská/Tokajské/Tokajsky vinohradnícka oblast’ was listed in the E-Bacchus database to designate wine from the wine-growing region of Tokaj in Slovakia.
On 30 November 2009, Slovakia sent a letter to the Commission in which it requested the Commission to replace the protected designation of origin ‘Tokajská/Tokajské/Tokajský vinohradnícka oblasť’ with ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ in the E-Bacchus database. Slovakia stated that the designation ‘Tokajská/Tokajské/Tokajský vinohradnícka oblasť’ was mistakenly put on the list of quality wines psr, and that it was actually the name ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ which appeared in the national legislation.
After making sure that, on the day the E-Bacchus database was introduced, the Slovak legislation in question contained the designation ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’, the Commission granted Slovakia’s request and amended the information contained in the E-Bacchus database.
However, Hungary challenged that amendment with reference to the term ‘Tokajská vinohradnícka oblasť’ appearing in the new Slovak law on wines adopted on 30 June 2009, and which came into force on 1 September 2009. Hungary then brought an action before the General Court for annulment of the entry of the protected designation of origin ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ in the E-Bacchus database.
In its judgment given on 8 November 20122, the General Court found that, since the name ‘Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj’ was protected by an EU regulation before its entry in the E-Bacchus
1 http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/wine/e-bacchus.
2 Case T-194/10 Hungary v Commission. See also Press Release No 143/12.
database, the entry as such was not capable of producing legal effects. The General Court held that the action brought by Hungary was inadmissible because, under the Treaty, the court has jurisdiction only to review the legality of measures of European Union bodies intended to produce legal effects.
Hungary lodged an appeal against the judgment of the General Court.
In its judgment the Court of Justice explains first that, by relying in particular on the content and on the legal context of the entry at issue, the new wine regime, for reasons of legal certainty, made provision for a transitional regime in order to maintain the protection of wine names already protected before 1 August 2009 under national law, and therefore under EU law.
The Court of Justice then states that the Commission’s inclusion of wine names in the E-Bacchus database has no effect on the protection which those wine names enjoy at EU level under the transitional regime. Indeed, the Commission was not authorised either to grant protection or to decide on the wine name which was to be included in the E-Bacchus database.
The Court of Justice therefore concludes that the General Court did not err in law by finding that those wine names have been automatically protected since 1 August 2009 by virtue of the transitional regime.
In those circumstances, the Court of Justice, after reiterating that only provisions adopted by the institutions of the EU and intended to produce binding legal effects can be challenged before the courts of the EU, finds that the entry at issue does not constitute an actionable measure.
Finally, concerning Hungary’s argument that the new rules allow it to bring an action against entries made by the Commission in the E-Bacchus database, the Court of Justice finds that the transitional regime and the new protection regime are not comparable, and therefore they can be treated differently.
On that basis, the Court of Justice dismisses Hungary’s appeal in its entirety.
NOTE: An appeal, on a point or points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against a judgment or order of the General Court. In principle, the appeal does not have suspensive effect. If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court. Where the state of the proceedings so permits, the Court of Justice may itself give final judgment in the case. Otherwise, it refers the case back to the General Court, which is bound by the decision given by the Court of Justice on the appeal.
Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.
The full text of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of delivery.
Press contact: Christopher Fretwell (+352) 4303 3355
Luxembourg, 13 February 2014 |
| INTERVIEW-Farmland buying may harm poor states -EU official - By Bate Felix
BRUSSELS, June 3.2009 (Reuters) - The European Union is concerned by the trend of foreign investors and countries acquiring large tracts of farmland in developing countries to guarantee their own food security, a senior EU official said on Wednesday.
www.silobreaker.com |
| FORESTS FOR QUALITY OF LIFE – NEW COMMITMENTS OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR FORESTS IN EUROPE - Warsaw, 6 Nov, - The Ministerial Declaration and two Resolutions concluded the 5th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe held in Warsaw. The commitments on promotion of wood as renewable energy carrier and the role of forest in water protection in the context of climate change were adopted by 38 MCPFE signatories for the implementation at a national level. |
| Co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming - Co-existence refers to the ability of farmers to make a practical choice between conventional, organic and GM crop production, in compliance with the legal obligations for labelling and/or purity criteria. None of these types of agriculture should be excluded in the EU.
The possibility of adventitious presence of GM crops in non-GM crops cannot be dismissed, and may have commercial implications for the farmers whose crops are affected. Consequently, suitable measures during cultivation, harvest, transport, storage, and processing may be necessary to ensure co-existence. Co-existence thus concerns only the economic implications of GMO admixture, the measures to achieve sufficient segregation between GM and non-GM production and the costs of such measures.
Agriculture is an open process, which means that perfect segregation of the different agricultural production types is not possible in practice. Co-existence of these production types which will not lead to a systematic exclusion of one or more of them can only be ensured if the segregation measures are designed in a way that takes these limitations into account.
Experience with the cultivation of GM crops remains extremely limited in the EU. Commercial cultivation has so far been limited to two types of GM maize. In Spain, GM maize cultivation amounted to 58,000 hectares in 2004, or about 12 percent of total Spanish maize cultivation. In other Member States, cultivation is limited to a few hundred hectares. In Spain, GM maize has been grown since 1998 under a non-binding code of good practice.
On 23 July 2003, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on guidelines for the development of national strategies and best practices, to help Member States develop national legislative or other strategies for co-existence. Most Member States are still developing national approaches, with specific co-existence legislation adopted in four Member States (Germany, Denmark, Portugal and six of the Austrian Länder) by the end of 2005. Monitoring programmes still have to be set up and implemented in order to verify the effectiveness and economic feasibility of the measures taken.
Co-existence measures aim at protecting farmers of non-GM crops from the possible economic consequences of accidental mixing of crops with GMOs. The Commission Recommendation states that co-existence measures should not go beyond what is necessary to ensure that accidental traces of GMOs in non-GM products stay below EU labelling thresholds in order to avoid any unnecessary burden for the operators concerned. Measures should be science-based and proportionate and must not generally forbid the growing of GM crops.
Most Member States have based their approaches on management measures applicable at the level of individual farms or in coordination between neighbouring farms. The onus of implementing segregation measures has generally been placed on GM crop growers. The very diverse nature of EU farming means that co-existence measures have to be adapted to local conditions and crop types, and make it imperative to ensure the maximum degree of flexibility for the Member States in developing their national approaches.
The Commission believes there is a need to gather further experience before considering a change in the current subsidiarity-based approach set out in the 2003 Recommendation. However, it intends to take very careful notice of the opinions expressed by stakeholders. The co-existence conference organised in Vienna on 4-6 April 2006 will provide for such an occasion. In the meantime, it proposes to strengthen its efforts to ensure the maximum cooperation between Member States; analyse the latest scientific and economic information available on segregation measures; develop jointly with the Member States best practices for technical segregation measures leading to crop-specific recommendations; and obtain more information on national civil liability systems. In 2008, the Commission will report on the progress made, including an update on the development and implementation of national co-existence measures.
Report on the implementation of national measures on the co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming [pdf] (09/03/2006)
Also available in:
Annex to the Report (Commission Working Document) [pdf]
Press release (09/03/2006)
Also available in:
"New case studies on the coexistence of GM and non-GM crops in European agriculture" [pdf] (01/2006)
Guidelines for the development of national strategies and best practices to ensure the co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming (07/2003)
Conference "Co-existence of genetically modified, conventional and organic crops – freedom of choice", Vienna, 4-6 April 2006
Related information:
Biotechnology
www.eoroparl.europa.eu
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| New Agriculture minister. - Agriculture minister Miroslav Jurena wants to increase direct payments to farmers. |
| Kraft Foods Slovakia - Kraft Foods Slovakia j.s.c. Bratislava closed 2005 with a net profit of Sk 48m (compared to Sk 133.5m in 2004) on reve-nues of Sk 4.6bn (+3.3%). |
| Cereal review in Slovak Republic - Summary
In the marketing year 2004-2005, according to the SO SR data, sown and harvested
areas of grains reached the acreage of 818,0 thousand hectares and 815,5 thousand hectares,
respectively. Favourable weather conditions, sufficient atmospheric rainfalls and optimal
temperatures in the period of ripening contributed for the notable hectare yield of grains
(4,65 tons). Since the marketing year 1991.1992, it has been the highest average hectare yield
of grains. In comparison with 2003, the average hectare yields were lower by 58,4% of wheat,
38,1% of barley, 55,1% of rye, 19,5% of oats, 41,5% of maize and 58,8% of other grains.
In the marketing year 2004-2005, the production of grains reached the volume
of 3 793, 2 thousand tons and the total supply is expected to be 4 100,8 thousand tons.
The domestic consumption of grains is expected to reach the volume of 2 719,3 thousand
tons. In the marketing year 2004.2005, export is estimated in the volume of 179,0 thousand
tons. In regard to the total supply and utilization, as per 30 June 2005, the stocks of grains will
be probably increased to 1 200,7 thousand tons, out of which 520,0 thousand tons
are intended for the intervention purchase.
The accession of Slovakia into the EU (on 1 May 2004) has not affected the grains
foreign trade balance with the third countries in the marketing year 2004.2005. In connection
with the duty-free regime it was expected an increase of the foreign trade exchange of grains
between Slovakia and other EU countries. Though, the increase was not occurred because
of a surplus of grains in the European Union.
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| Leaf International - Dutch company Leaf International, which plans to open a candy plant in the city of Levice, will employ 130 people. A group of around 50 employees should be trained in Finland. In future the company plans to create another 300 jobs. (TASR)
5.04.2006 |
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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