Vulcan View | The latest EU developments 11 April – 15 April

EU proposes “first-ever” rules to protect IP for craft products

On Wednesday, European Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, presented the EU’s first-ever framework to protect the intellectual property for craft and industrial products that rely on the originality and authenticity of traditional practices from their regions. The new legal framework would be an extension of the current and globally successful geographical indication system for beer, wine and spirit beverages and agricultural products such as cheese, salami and ham. According to the Commission, this new framework will cover products such as Murano glass, Donegal tweed, Porcelaine de Limoges, Solingen cutlery or Boleslawiec pottery, and aims to enable European craft and industrial producers to protect the craft and industrial products associated with their local regions and traditional know-how, across Europe and internationally. Keep reading.

Finland and Sweden may only be months away from joining NATO

Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused an uproar by fertilizing the ground for Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO. The possible membership of the two Nordic countries was discussed by the foreign ministers of the 30 NATO countries last week and, in a significant step, the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden were invited to attend the talks in the Alliance’s Brussels headquarter. While Finland, like neighbouring Sweden, is officially neutral, both countries are already close partners with NATO and meet the Alliance’s political and military requirements. Keep reading.

Ireland moves to address energy security concerns with new framework

This week saw the Irish government launch its new National Energy Security Framework aimed at providing an overarching and comprehensive response to Ireland’s energy security needs. While much of the discussion at EU level around energy security is now focused on the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the need to reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies, energy security has been of concern far before the war began. Particularly in Ireland where there were concerns over winter 2021 about whether or not there would be enough supply to meet demand, leading the government to release a policy statement on security of electricity supply and to reopen some existing fossil fuel plants. Keep reading.

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