products and of GI products sold online. The new regulation will also strengthen the protection of GI names in the domain name system; - recognising sustainable practices: producers will now be able to promote their environmental, economic or social sustainability actions. A producer group may decide to make certain sustainable practices mandatory for their products. In this case, they must be included in the product specification. On a voluntary basis, producers may also draw up a sustainability report to be published by the European Commission; - empowering producer groups: the new measures establish a voluntary system of recognised GI producer groups, to be set up by EU Member States. To increase the attractiveness of the system, these groups are empowered to manage, enforce and develop their GIs in order to strengthen their position in the value chain. III. THE IMPACT OF THE EU REGULATION IN THE FIELD OF GASTRONOMY The quality and diversity of products make a major contribution to our living cultural and gastronomic heritage and help preserve traditions and the diversity of cultural identities. So, how important are PDO/PGI labels and designations? Gastronomy has specific requirements compared to food, as it focuses on taste, products, preparation and the combination of dishes and drinks (food and wine pairing) and appeals to the senses. It emphasises the variety and quality of products, while food is more repetitive and mainly serves vital functions. It is therefore clear that one of the primary objectives of a gastronome is product quality. Based on the objectives of Regulation 2024/1142, it can be assumed that the dishes making up gastronomic meals will have to be prepared mainly and primarily with agricultural products benefiting from geographical identification within the meaning of the latter. This is not really new. However, the new system aims to strengthen the protection of GIs and promote fair competition between operators through harmonised control procedures, which suggests that controls will be stricter and fraud will be punished more severely. Similarly, the clarification of legal terminology and the relaxation of the conditions for using EU GI logos will make it easier to promote gastronomic dishes made with such products. More innovative is the commitment to sustainability: the regulation specifies that the inclusion of environmental, economic or social sustainability criteria 374 CHRISTINE LEBEL
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