Judges in Luxembourg say EU law prohibits use of term ‘non-alcoholic gin’, in case brought by German lobby group
The makers of spirits may be raising a toast to the European judges of Luxembourg after the EU’s court ruled that non-alcoholic drinks cannot be called gin.
Only spirit drinks based on ethyl alcohol flavoured by juniper berries with a minimum alcoholic strength of 37.5% by volume can be known as gin, the court said in a judgment issued on Thursday.
The case was brought by a German association against unfair competition, Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb, against PB Vi Goods, a company that sold a drink called Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei.
The company argued in court that it was obvious from the name that it was selling a non-alcoholic drink. A court in Germany also considered that the name “eliminates the risk of misleading the consumer” and raised the question that European regulation on spirits could be at odds with the freedom to conduct a business under the EU’s charter of fundamental rights.
