organoleptic properties, cultivation, production, or processing techniques, etc.) and in a legal dimension (the relevance and scope, for the legal order, of the characteristics of that particular territory). This legally relevant space is governed by a variety of rules which, as shall be demonstrated, also serve the purpose of preserving the distinctive features of the territory under consideration—either directly or indirectly—by safeguarding the products which the territory produces. From this perspective, a comprehensive regulatory framework emerges which, through a plurality of domestic and European Union sources, pursues manifold and multifaceted public interests. Indeed, by protecting a gastronomic product, the law indirectly preserves a multiplicity of additional factors that contribute to the quality of the final food product—factors which, taken together, may have diverse and entirely distinct consistencies and peculiarities. In other words, the notion of protection of a gastronomic product has a polysemous scope, encompassing multiple forms and levels of safeguard which, when viewed collectively, constitute the legal regime envisaged and sought by both the EU and domestic legislator. The territory, as a legally relevant space, thus becomes a locus where multiple safeguards converge, and may be appreciated—particularly in relation to specific gastronomic products—as a common requirement for protection. By examining the concrete link between territory and gastronomic product, the present analysis seeks to explore the legal significance of such relationship and to verify the substance of the intrinsically indissoluble bond between a product of gastronomic excellence and the territory in which it is created. Products of gastronomic excellence are protected at multiple levels, both under EU law and under Italian domestic law, the latter itself comprising a variety of normative sources2. More specifically, while EU regulations provide a common legal framework, each Member State adopts additional provisions aimed at ensuring the protection of those gastronomic products which it has a particular interest in safeguarding as typical products. In Italy, one of the products subject to specific regulation—by virtue of its traditional production method and wide commercial distribution, including in foreign markets—is Parmigiano Reggiano, a dairy product known (and imitated) worldwide. The specific focus on Parmigiano Reggiano and its 2 On the general topic of the legal sphere, see, inter alia, S. Cassese, Lo spazio giuridico globale, Ed. Laterza, 2003; G. Cugurra, Competenze amministrative e limiti territoriali, in Tempo, spazio e certezza dell’azione amministrativa, in Atti del XLVIII Convegno di Studi in scienza dell’amministrazione – Varenna, Giuffrè, 2003. 408 STEFANIA VASTA
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