Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 as regards amendments adopted by the Assembly of the Lisbon Union on 14 July 2025 to the Common Regulations under the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications

(COM(2026)0069 – C100030/2026 – 2026/0044(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2026)0069),

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C100030/2026),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Rule 60 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the letter from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development,

Citation 4: deleted / (deleted)

Recital 1: (1) The Union is a Contracting Party to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications1a (the ‘Geneva Act’). Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council2 establishes the rules and procedures concerning actions of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act. / 1a OJ L 271, 24.10.2019, p. 15, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2019/1754/oj. / 2 Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the action of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (OJ L 271, 24.10.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1753/oj).

Recital 1 a (new): (1a) The Geneva Act protects appellations of origin and geographical indications, including protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and geographical indications within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as well as protected geographical indications within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council1a, which are together referred to as “geographical indications” in Regulation (EU) 2019/1753. It should be ensured that the correspondence between the geographical indications protected under the Union system, on the one hand, and the registrations of the respective geographical indications of the Union and of the Member States in the International Register under the Geneva Act (the 'International Register'), on the other hand, can be maintained when the geographical indications protected under the Union system are modified. / 1a Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/1753 (OJ L, 2023/2411, 27.10.2023, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2411/oj).

Recital 2: (2) On 14 July 2025, in the 66th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (‘WIPO’), the Assembly of the Lisbon Union adopted amendments to the Common Regulations under the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (the“ Common Regulations”). Those new rules are to enter into force on 1 July 2026. / (deleted) / (deleted)

Recital 3: (3) As a consequence of the adoption of those amendments to the Common Regulations, Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 should be amended to enable the Union to meet its obligations as a Contracting Party to the Geneva Act and to make use of the new procedural options provided under the amended Common Regulations.

Recital 4: (4) In particular, in accordance with the amended Rule 15 of the Common Regulations, in addition to the existing list of possible modifications, which includes, among others, modifications of the geographical area and modifications of the beneficiary, Contracting Parties will be able to submit requests for entry in the International Register of the following new types of modifications: modification of the name of a registered geographical indication, modification of the type of good or goods and modification of the description of the particulars concerning the quality, reputation or characteristics of the of origin or geographical indication, as referred to in Rule 5(3) of the Common Regulations.

Recital 5: (5) Currently, the procedures provided for in Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 do not provide for requests for modification.

Recital 6: (6) It is therefore necessary to establish the appropriate procedures to enable the Union to submit requests for modifications to the International Register as referred to in amended Rule 15 of the Common Regulations. The requests for modification submitted by the Union should concern all the geographical indications of the Union and of the Member States that are registered in the International Register, in respect of which the Commission, or, in respect of geographical indications for craft and industrial products, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (the “Office”) is the Competent Authority within the meaning of the Geneva Act.

Recital 6 a (new): (6a) In particular, to maintain the correspondence between the registrations of the geographical indications of the Union and of the Member States in the International Register under the Geneva Act and the geographical indications protected in the Union system, a mechanism should be provided that enables the Commission or, as applicable, the Office to ensure the correspondence of the registrations in the International Register in case of amendments to the product specification of the geographical indication protected in the Union system. In addition, modifications of the geographical area of geographical indication registered under the Geneva Act, which were already included among the permitted modifications under Rule 15 of the Common Regulations before its amendment, should also be covered by this mechanism. In contrast, modifications under Rule 15 of the Common Regulations that do not affect the product specification of a geographical indication protected in the Union system, such as modifications of the beneficiaries, should not be covered by that mechanism, as they do not affect the correspondence between the geographical indications protected under the Union system and the registrations under the Geneva Act.

Recital 7: (7) It is appropriate to make a distinction between two groups of amendments of the product specification of a geographical indication, protected in the Union system under Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 or Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, that may result in a modification of the corresponding geographical indication registered under the Geneva Act. The first group of amendments are those that result in a substantive discrepancy between the geographical indications registered in the Geneva Act system and those protected in the Union system. Amendments of the product specification concerning the name of the geographical indication or the classification of the product that imply a modification of the type of good or goods under the Geneva Act should fall within this group. In order to maintain the correspondence between the geographical indications protected in accordance with Union law and the corresponding geographical indications registered under the Geneva Act, the Commission or, as applicable, the Office should, therefore, have the obligation to request the modification of the corresponding geographical indication registered in the International Register, after the approval of the respective amendment in the Union system, unless the Member State of origin indicates that it no longer wishes to maintain the international registration and requests its cancellation. In such cases, for the international registration to be cancelled, the Member State of origin should submit its request to t…

Recital 8: (8) The second group of amendments are those that do not necessarily result in a substantial discrepancy between the geographical indications registered in the Geneva Act system and the geographical indications protected in the Union system. Amendments of the geographical area or of the elements concerning the quality, reputation or characteristics of the geographical indication protected in the Union system should be included in that group. The request for modification of the particulars of a geographical indication registered in the International Register following the amendment of the product specification, as regards the elements concerning quality, reputation or characteristics, of a geographical indication protected in the Union system should be possible, at the initiative of the Member State of origin of the relevant geographical indication registered in the Geneva Act system, and after the approval of the amendment in the Union system.

Recital 9: (9) The Union should be allowed to refuse protection when the Commission or, as applicable, the Office, are notified, pursuant to Rule 15(3) or 18(3) of the Common Regulations, of modifications or corrections of geographical indications registered in the International Register on request of a third country, in respect of which Contracting Parties are allowed to declare, in accordance with Rule 15(5) of the Common Regulations, that they cannot ensure the protection because of the modification or after the correction. It would be appropriate to assess such modifications or corrections under the already existing procedure to be applied following the notifications, to the Commission or, as applicable, to the Office of registration of geographical indications of third countries registered in the International Register. However, in order to avoid excessive and disproportionate burden, such procedure should be mandatory only for modifications of the name and of the type of good or goods related to third-country geographical indications registered in the International Register. For corrections or modifications of the particulars, the procedure should be initiated only upon request of a Member State or on the Commission’s or, as applicable, the Office's own initiative.

Recital 10: deleted

Recital 11: (11) In addition, for simplification and efficiency of the procedures, the obligation for Member States, which were Contracting Parties to the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration before the accession of the Union to the Geneva Act, to transmit to the Commission any notification made by the International Bureau under that Agreement and the obligation for the Commission to transmit those notifications to all other Member States should be deleted.

Recital 12: (12) In respect of geographical indications for craft and industrial products, the Commission should, in the specific cases identified in Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, be able to take over from the Office the power to decide on requests for registration of geographical indications of the Union in the International Register, modifications and cancellations of registrations of geographical indications of the Union or of its Member States and on protection, refusal of protection, modifications, corrections and invalidations of an international registration of a third country. This is in particular because the registration of the proposed geographical indication might be contrary to public policy, or such registration or the rejection of the application might jeopardise the Union’s trade or external relations.