The General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg will decide on Wednesday on Slovenia's lawsuit against the European Commission in the "teran label case", in which Croatia is an involved party.

Slovenia sued the European Commission, then led by Jean-Claude Juncker and with Phil Hogan as European Commissioner for Agriculture, after the EC adopted a delegated act, allowing the use of the label “Hrvatska Istra – teran” on wines produced in Istria, even though Slovenia had protected the teran brand as a label for its Karst wine at EU level immediately after joining the EU in 2004.

Following unsuccessful negotiations between Croatia and Slovenia to resolve the issue, despite Slovenia’s opposition, the EC adopted a delegated act in May 2017, specifying the conditions under which Croatian wine produced in Istria from the Teran grape variety can be sold under the label “Hrvatska Istra – teran” (Croatia Istria – Teran).

As a result of that decision, the then Slovenian government, led by former Prime Minister Miro Cerar, filed a lawsuit against the European Commission, saying that the delegated act, which was in favour of Croatian winemakers, was unlawful and that the sale of Istrian teran wine was causing harm to Slovenian producers of Karst teran wine because consumers were allegedly being misled.

Slovenian media have said that the result of Slovenia’s lawsuit is uncertain, although Ljubljana stands a chance in the dispute with the EC, and even if the case is not resolved in favour of Slovenia, it will be possible to file an appeal.