Summary of the Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for a Regulation on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products

(The full text of this Opinion can be found in English, French and German on the EDPS website www.edps.europa.eu)

(2022/C 258/05)

On 13 April 2022, the European Commission adopted a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Decision (EU) 2019/1754 (hereafter ‘the Proposal’).

This proposal aims to complement the EU protection system for geographical indications, which already exist for agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines and spirits, and at enabling the effective fulfilment of obligations stemming from the EU accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement.

The EDPS positively notes that the Proposal determines the roles of the Commission, the EUIPO and the competent authorities of Member States with regard to the processing of personal data in the procedures under this Proposal.

The EDPS recommends clarifying whether the different controllers involved in the processing of personal data will act as joint controllers or not. If so, the EDPS recommends to provide for an arrangement as envisaged by Articles 28 EUDPR and/or Article 26 GDPR. In this regard, the EDPS recalls that detailed arrangements to ensure compliance with data protection requirements, where necessary, may also be defined by way of an implementing act.

The EDPS notes that the Proposal foresees the creation of a publicly accessible electronic register of geographical indications for craft and industrial products. In this regard, the EDPS recommends a clear delineation of the categories of data which will be processed. The EDPS recommends to specify in the Proposal itself any categories of personal data involved. Finally, the EDPS considers that the chosen data retention period for the documentation related to the cancellation of geographical indications should be further justified.

1. INTRODUCTION

1. On 13 April 2022, the European Commission adopted a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Decision (EU) 2019/1754 (‘the Proposal’).

2. The objective of the Proposal is to establish a directly applicable geographical indication (‘GI’) protection for craft and industrial (‘CI’) products at EU level. It also aims to ensure that producers can benefit from the international framework for the registration and protection of GIs (’Lisbon system’) (1).

3. The Proposal complements existing EU protection for GIs in the agricultural domain. It follows similar approaches taken on the eligibility conditions and the protection of GIs for agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines and spirits as set out in: — Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, — Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, and — Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (5).

4. The Proposal would amend Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Union trade mark concerning possible conflicts between GIs and trade marks and specify additional tasks for the European Union Intellectual Property Office (‘EUIPO’). It also proposes an amendment to Council Decision (EU) 2019/1754 on the accession of the European Union to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, in order to establish a connection between the EU GI protection system for CI products and the Lisbon system (6).

5. The present Opinion of the EDPS is issued in response to a consultation by the European Commission of 13 April 2022, pursuant to Article 42(1) of EUDPR. The EDPS welcomes the reference to this consultation in Recital 63 of the Proposal. The comments and recommendations in this Opinion are limited to the provisions in the Proposal that are most relevant from a data protection perspective.

4. CONCLUSIONS

16. In light of the above, the EDPS: — welcomes the explicit designation of controllers in relation to the processing of personal data in the procedures laid down by the Proposal; — recommends clarifying whether or not the controllers should be considered as ‘joint controllers’ within the meaning of Articles 28 EUDPR and 26 GDPR; — recommends to specify in the Proposal any categories of data to be included in the Union register of geographical indications for craft and industrial products; — considers that the proposed retention period for documentation related to the cancellation of GIs registration should be further justified or reduced insofar as it concerns personal data.

Brussels, 2 June 2022. Wojciech Rafał WIEWIÓROWSKI

(1) COM(2022) 174 final, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671.

(5) The EDPS was consulted on Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and adopted his Opinion on 14 December 2011.

(6) COM(2022) 174 final, p. 2.