While there already appears to be some doubt as to its enthusiasm for what its referendum has decided, Britain’s proposed exit from the European Union will be watched, globally, with great interest. The exit will, of course, have significant strategic implications for the area and will require the rethinking of Britain’s trade relationship with the European continent. Needless to say, such matters are important as are the effects of immigration, positive or otherwise, that appear to have been a major influence upon the vote particularly in less affluent areas away from London. However, the extent to which European law has permeated the domestic law of all of the member states will become apparent within the “exit” process.
In that regard, we have in mind the implications for that no so humble Cornish export fondly known (and loved) as the “Cornish pasty”. In days of yore, any savoury product bearing the characteristics of a “pasty” and, in particular, the famous half circle shape and crinkled crust, wherever its genesis, was known as a “cornish pasty”. However, not so since the enactment by the European Parliament of EU regulation 1151/2012 (which does mirror, or supplement, earlier legislation) which forbids, within the EU, all but products genuinely emanating from a region being named accordingly. That being the case, at least since 2012 a pasty not made in Cornwall has, at least within Europe, been known merely as a “pasty”.
Given it is, generally, impossible to register a trademark comprising a place name the implications of “Brexit” for the likes of the Cornish pasty will be interesting. Presumably it will, ultimately, be a question for the Cornish manufacturers and whether or not they perceive any value in the protection that the EU regulation presently provides. Whatever the case, if there is any such value then it will be a cost of withdrawal from the Union.
We find the point of interest not because of any particular affinity for pasties, generally or emanating from Cornwall in particular, but rather to demonstrate the complexity of the exit and the far reaching implications of it. While Britain has two years within which to negotiate its terms of exit (once the exit clause is triggered), the reality appears that union has pervaded so many aspects of Britain’s commercial existence that the consequences will be significant and take many years to address.