Brussels, 4 December 2018
EFOW, the European Federation of Origin Wines, organised with the sponsorship of MEPs Paolo De Castro and Herbert Dorfmann a seminar at the European Parliament on the opportunities and challenges facing GI wines in the digital age. In the presence of many professionals, officials and MEPs, the debate highlighted the obstacles that exist to the development of online wine sales. Speakers stressed the evolution of this new market, in particular the concentration of communication and distribution channels in the hands of a small number of players. They also discussed concrete solutions that should be provided at European level to address the specific problems of e-commerce for wine. The presentations drew attention to the importance of “e-labelling” and the need to put in place legal tools to strengthen the protection of GI wines on the Internet.
EFOW’s President, Mr. Bernard Farges, explains: “The online wine sales market offers very interesting opportunities, but you have to be able to exploit them. The experts intervening today at EFOW’s seminar confirmed that unfortunately there are significant barriers that prevent producers from taking full advantage of this new market. We want European law to evolve to establish new rules allowing the development of wine e-commerce and, for GI wines, legal provisions to effectively combat cybersquatting of our GI names. I would like to sincerely thank MEPs De Castro and Dorfmann for allowing us to open this debate at a time when discussions are beginning on the reform of the CAP which will, I hope, enable us to provide answers to the challenges of online wine sales“.
EFOW’s Seminar
Hosted by Paolo De Castro MEP and Herbert Dorfmann MEP
“Opportunities and challenges for Geographical Indication wines in the online market”
Tuesday 4 December 2018, 10h30-12h30 | European Parliament – room ASP 3H1
PROGRAMME
Welcome address by Herbert Dorfmann MEP
Brief Introduction by EFOW’s President, Mr. Bernard Farges
Trends, opportunities and barriers to online sales
- Mr. Grégory Bressolles – Prof. KEDGE Business School – developments of online sales of wines
- Mr. Riccardo Ricci Curbastro – Vice-President of EFOW – EU legislative stumbling blocks
- Mrs. Francesca Poggiali – GS1 Europe – & Mr. Paul Bounaud – GS1 France – “e-labelling” perspectives for the wine sector
Debate with the public
How to protect GI wine names on the internet
- Mr. Alberto Ribeiro de Almeida – head of the legal department of IVDP – Loopholes in the current legal framework
- Mr. Andrea Moretti – Director, Head of Legal Italy, eBay – filling the gap: stakeholders’ agreements on the protection of GIs online
- Mr. Francis Fay – Head of the GI unit, DG AGRI – Tackling the protection of GIs online
Debate with the public
Brief conclusion by EFOW’s President, Mr. Bernard Farges
Closing remarks Paolo De Castro MEP
Interpretation will be provided in EN, FR, IT, ES