92002E3017

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3017/02

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(23 October 2002)

Subject: Protected designation for craft products

European rules enabling consumers clearly to identify food products with protected designations of origin have been in existence for ten years now, backed up by a verification and control system. However, no such arrangements exist for traditional craft products, which are of significant importance to the European economy and for which appropriate European rules should be laid down, in order to protect them against imitation and counterfeiting. What are the Commission's views on the matter?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(14 November 2002)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's opinion that the craft sector plays an important role in the Union.

However, it is often difficult to estimate the full importance of craft businesses in the European economy because there is no European level definition of the craft trade and where there are definitions of craft businesses at national level, these reflect different circumstances. Nor then is there any definition of a traditional craft product at Community level. To remedy this situation, a study has been carried out to draw up a methodology to produce a statistical definition of a small craft business which should enable the Commission to obtain more accurate and comparable statistical data.

The Honourable Member will find further information on this study on Internet site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/craft-studies/methodology-craftstatistics.htm

In addition, the Commission is aware of the need to take advantage of the quality of craft products and European rare crafts, and has conducted a study aimed at identifying rare crafts in Europe and the channels for transferring know-how in the rare crafts sectors.

The final report from this study can be found on the Internet site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/entrepreneurship/craft/craft-studies/rarecrafts.htm

The Commission is thus continuing to look into this very important matter as it is aware that local traditional craft products are an integral part of the cultural and economic life of the peoples and regions of Europe and that the quality of these products lies in their traditional methods of manufacture.