Judgment of the General Court of 21 February 2024 – Papouis Dairies and Others v Commission
(Case T-361/21) 1
(Agriculture – Protected designation of origin – Opposition proceedings – Registration of the name ‘Χαλλούμι’ (Halloumi)/‘Hellim’ (PDO) – Article 52(3)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 – Obligation to state reasons – Length of the administrative procedure – Scope of the review carried out by the Commission of the application for registration – Principle of sound administration)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: Papouis Dairies Ltd (Nicosia, Cyprus) and the five other applicants listed in the Annex to the judgment (represented by: N. Korogiannakis, lawyer)
Defendant: European Commission (represented by: M. Konstantinidis, B. Hofstötter and B. Rechena, acting as Agents)
Intervener in support of the defendant: Republic of Cyprus (represented by: E. Zachariadou, I. Neophytou, E. Symeonidou and M. Marinou, acting as Agents, and by T. Georgopoulos, lawyer)
Re:
By their action under Article 263 TFEU, the applicants seek annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/591 of 12 April 2021 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (‘Χαλλούμι’ (Halloumi)/‘Hellim’ (PDO)) (OJ 2021 L 125, p. 42).
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;
Orders Papouis Dairies Ltd and the other applicants listed in the Annex to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the European Commission;
Orders the Republic of Cyprus to bear its own costs
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1 OJ C 357, 6.9.2021.