On 18 April 2023, the Italian Constitutional Court issued its decision No. 75/2023 on the consistency of Sicilian law on the recognition of local designations of origin ("Denominazioni Comunali"), commonly referred to as De.Co. These are designations granted to typical products because of their link with their local area of origin. The Constitutional Court rejected the application made by the Council of Ministers that Article 11 of the Constitution and Article 34 of the Treaty of the European Union Treaty on the functioning of the European Union had been infringed, since De.Co. are not equal to European Union Geographical Indications protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs and do not amount to measures of equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions. This decision provides some clarifications on the relationship between national and EU legislation concerning local and traditional products, and the extent to which EU measures pre-empt the power of national jurisdictions to legislate on this matter. This relationship has already been partially addressed inter alia by both the ECJ and the Italian Court of Cassation in the Salame Felino decisions.
Originally published by May, 2023
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