On Thursday, Denmark lost a case in the European Court of Justice centering on the export of its cheese farmers outside the European Union under the designation “feta”, a protected designation in favor of Greece, which is the country of origin for this type of cheese.
“Vita” has been a protected designation within the European Union since 2002, and Denmark and Germany lost an appeal they filed in this regard in 2005.
However, Denmark continued to allow its producers to list their products under the label “Vita” when exported outside the European Union, which includes 27 countries.
Denmark’s practice prompted the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to take action to the European Court of Justice, backed by Greece.
“After failing to prevent the use of the feta designation for cheeses intended for export to countries outside the European Union, Denmark has failed to fulfill its obligations under European Union law,” the court said in its ruling.
She stressed that Denmark should put an end to the use of this designation, and ordered it to comply with the decision quickly, according to “AFP”.
In the event of non-compliance with the decision, the authority can resort to the court again and ask Denmark for financial compensation, knowing that the court confirmed that Denmark cooperated well with it.