WRITTEN QUESTION P-0848/03 by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission. Authenticity label for Italian restaurants in the EU.
Date: 2003-03-13
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, catering industry, competition law, consumer information, consumer protection, invitation to tender

C 222 E/238

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

By restricting eligibility for the single payment to producers who have received financial aid during the
2000-2002 period, the Commission proposal
in fact, denying new producers access to aid. This
measure addresses only the limitations of continental production, but is completely inappropriate for the
situation in the overseas territories where local production only provides for a small percentage of local
consumption.

is,

What specific measures does the Commission intend to put in place in order not to discourage young
farmers from setting up in business in these regions?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2003)

The Community has for a long time been engaged in helping newly established farmers, and in particular
young farmers, to start up.

To this end, the Community set up, in the reform of rural development implemented by Agenda 2000,
a system of specific support applying mainly to young farmers, the results of which are promising.

Under the reform of the common agricultural policy which the Commission has just proposed to the
Council, particular focus was given to the issue of new entrants to farming; it is also for this purpose that
the Commission has proposed to the Council that a national reserve be constituted in every Member State.

In accordance with Article 45 of the proposal for a Council Regulation establishing common rules for
direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and support schemes for producers of
certain crops, ‘Member States may use the national reserve to grant reference amounts to new farmers who
commence their agricultural activity after 31 December 2000, according to objective criteria and in such a
way as to ensure equal treatment between farmers and to avoid market and competition distortions.’

Thus, it will be up to the Member States to define the allocation criteria and to grant rights to newly
established farmers, which will have to be objective and ensure equal treatment among farmers.

(2003/C 222 E/268)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0848/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Authenticity label for Italian restaurants in the EU

(13 March 2003)

A few months ago the Italian Institute for External Trade (ICE) conducted a survey which established that
there exist between 55 000 and 60 000 ‘Italian’ or ‘Italian-style’ restaurants over the world’s five continents,
of which a good 25 000 are to be found in the EU Member States. However, only 20-25 % of these can be
considered authentic, in the sense of using products exported from Italy and offering ‘dishes’ and recipes
that are genuinely Italian. It further appears that many of these restaurants exhibit, by way of their signs,
names referring directly or indirectly to Italy, and may even abusively employ terms that are governed by
protected designations of origin (PDOs) (as in the case of a Belgian restaurant calling itself ‘Ricotta e
Parmesan’).

All of this is possible because to date Italian recipes have not been codified and there is no specific label to
distinguish genuine Italian restaurants from their inauthentic counterparts. This means that, as things
stand, anyone can use the ‘Italian brand-name’, thus appropriating a label which can generate considerable
added value on the market. It should be sufficient to recall that, in 2002 alone, the total value of Italy’s
exports of food products was EUR 13,5 billion.

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/239

In the absence of measures to protect the thousands of traditional Italian recipes, the average European
consumer is offered no protection when faced with a choice in a restaurant between an authentic and an
inauthentic product.

This is not the case with, for example, French cuisine, which is properly codified thanks to Escoffier.

Can the Commission state:

1. whether it considers that the rules on PDO/PGI products could be extended to cover restaurant signs,

with a view to preventing the abusive employment of such names;

2. whether it believes it possible to introduce an international register which would recognise an

authenticity label to be awarded to Italian restaurants in the EU;

3. what measures it intends to take to deal with the legislative vacuum that now exists, in contravention

of consumer protection and competition law?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

The aim of the existing Community rules on the protection of geographical indications and designations of
origin is to provide for the effective and efficient protection of registered names from direct or indirect
misappropriation and improper use.

These rules apply to the commercialisation of products for which the name has actually been registered,
and thus protected. As a result,
it would not seem to be possible to use these rules to prohibit the
improper use of names registered by restaurants.

The Commission has no intention of proposing that these rules be extended to restaurants.

The Commission is aware of the creation of an authenticity label for Italian restaurants which is being
introduced by the Italian authorities and associations concerned by this problem.
It seems that the
intention is to try out this initiative by means of a pilot project in Belgium, and then in the United States
and Japan. This tool could offer an initial answer to the improper use of designations of origin such as
‘Italy’ or of PGI/PDO in restaurants.

Such steps, along with the effective use of other existing national and/or Community provisions to protect
the consumer against the risks of confusion and/or unfair competition, would appear to suffice.

The Commission does not
therefore consider it necessary to compile an international register of
restaurants, but to make effective use of existing tools to prevent certain restaurants from misleading
consumers and misappropriating names which are protected by Community legislation.

(2003/C 222 E/269)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0871/03

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 March 2003)

Subject: Exchanges of personal data between airlines and the CIA

In early March a number of reports appeared in the media to the effect that the European Commission has
reached an agreement with the United States on the exchange of airline passengers’ personal data. That
data covers not only, for example, the name of the person concerned, but also details of the in-flight menu
he or she chose. The laconic response of a spokesman for the Commissioner with responsibility for
transport, Mrs Loyola de Palacio, to these reports was that the agreement is consistent with European law
and that Muslims who do not wish to eat pork ‘need not fly to the United States or should simply order a
sandwich’.