Denmark has been criticized by the Court of Justice of the European Union for doing too little against the production of Danish feta-like cheese, which is exported under the name feta to countries outside the European Union.

This morning, the Court of Justice ruled in a decades-long series of lawsuits concerning the feta cheese that Denmark should put a stop to this. If it doesn't, it could cost the country money, intellectual property lawyer Joost Becker told RTL Z.

Protected name

Feta was put on the so-called list of Protected Designations of Origin by the European Commission in 2002. This list includes products with a name that is specifically associated with a country or region where they are produced (such as champagne, Parma ham or Gouda cheese).

Products that are made in a similar way, but in a different location, are not allowed to call themselves that. The fact that not everyone adheres to the European guidelines is apparent from the legal proceedings that have been raging for years regarding the cheese type feta.

danish nepfeta

In the current case, the European Commission, supported by Greece and Cyprus, said Denmark would turn a blind eye to companies in that country to produce a feta-like cheese, which they export under that name to countries outside the EU.

The European Commission wants the Court of Justice to force the Danish government to intervene.

According to Denmark, the country is not doing anything wrong, but the Court of Justice ruled otherwise this morning. "The court agrees with Greece," said lawyer Becker. "If the Danes don't act, they can now be fined."

Feti is also not allowed

According to Becker, the Danes cannot avoid the pronunciation by, for example, coming up with a clever almost-similar name for their cheese, such as feti or feto.

"There are previous rulings that show that counterfeiting, imitation or misleading representations are also not allowed," said the lawyer. "For example, French champagne farmers successfully took up arms against a chain of Spanish tapas restaurants called Champanillo."

According to Becker, the fact that issues concerning the protected designation of origin regularly require the involvement of a judge is due to a not always clear text of the European directive. "In this case, there was nothing about export in the directive, and the court had to provide more clarity."