Why joining the EU is so hard to swallow for Croatia’s winemakers

[George S.]

That is the silliest thing,why don't we have a name change just like the one the Macedonians are experiencing.No wonder the eu is destined to fail it cannot really comprehend what's going on.The consumer can work it out ,come on they can't be that stupid.Do people need to be dictated to?I think the consumer will work it out in the end.

[Vangelovski]

They're not even the same colour are they? That would indicate different grapes wouldn't it?

I don't know, but I'm sure only Brussels is qualified to answer that question

[Bij]

People love state interference in every aspect of their lives - Nanny knows best. You'd be hard pressed to find individuals across Europe or even in Australia that truly value individual freedom. Greece's precedent with Macedonia's name wouldn't have helped much either. But this goes much further - now "similar sounding" names seem to be off limits as well.

Surely the feeble minded European consumer can tell the difference between prosek and prosecco, particularly when one is labelled as Croatian and the other Italian. But it appears not - Brussels has determined that its servants (EU "citizens") are too retarded and we shouldn't be confusing them with such subtleties.

They're not even the same colour are they? That would indicate different grapes wouldn't it?

[Vangelovski]

what an idiotic regulation. surely the EU has better things to worry itself with

People love state interference in every aspect of their lives - Nanny knows best. You'd be hard pressed to find individuals across Europe or even in Australia that truly value individual freedom. Greece's precedent with Macedonia's name wouldn't have helped much either. But this goes much further - now "similar sounding" names seem to be off limits as well.

Surely the feeble minded European consumer can tell the difference between prosek and prosecco, particularly when one is labelled as Croatian and the other Italian. But it appears not - Brussels has determined that its servants (EU "citizens") are too retarded and we shouldn't be confusing them with such subtleties.

[Bij]

what an idiotic regulation. surely the EU has better things to worry itself with

[makedonche]

EU membership at the cost of 500 years of culture,tradition and history?
What the f*#@ are the Croations thinking?

[George S.]

Why joining the EU is so hard to swallow for Croatia’s winemakers

As Croatia prepares to celebrate joining the EU, Nick Squires reports how a dispute over the name 'Prosek' is an early taste of the problems to come.

By Nick Squires, Split
08 Jun 2013

In a vaulted cellar on the pine-clad island of Hvar, Andro Tomic pops a cork on a bottle of his beloved prosek wine and pours a generous glass.

The amber-coloured dessert wine holds a special place in the hearts of Croats, particularly those along the Dalmatian coast, but it is about to face the full wrath of the Brussels bureaucracy.
The European Union has ruled that prosek is too similar in name to Italy's prosecco and that after July 1, when Croatia realises a decade-old ambition of joining the EU, it can no longer be sold as such.

The ruling has infuriated Croats and underlined the doubts and apprehension of many over the decision to become the bloc's 28th member, particularly at a time of deep economic and political tensions within the EU.

Nowhere is the indignation felt more deeply than on the island of Hvar, where prosek has been produced amid the dry stone walls, olive groves and pine woods for more than 500 years.