TRANSLATION WATCH: BUT IT'S MONSTROUS IN ANY LANGUAGE!

There is no English text as yet for Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer's Opinion today in Joined Cases C-465 and 466/02 Commission v Germany and Denmark. However, it appears that the Advocate-General has advised the European Court of Justice to rule against Germany and Denmark in their attempt to keep feta as a generic term for the white cheese that is well known as, well, feta, for the very good reason that it is a generic term.

Advocate General Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer: says feta belongs to Greece alone

The IPKat is seething over two things. The first is the usual moan about the absence of an English version of this Opinion. Without it, how can he see whether this decision is founded on solid logic or political expediency? The second is the fact that so many consumers know that feta is a generic term and have always used it so: why should they have to be forcibly re-educated into giving a new (and in many cases unacceptable) meaning to a word which has been used generically by them for so long? Is this some sort of linguistic fascism, he miaows. Merpel agrees and adds, "why, if feta is given back to the Greeks as a geographical indication, shouldn't the European Union be forced to give cheddar cheese back to the English?".

Do-it-yourself feta kit for the discerning cheese eater

Italian text here
More on Danish feta here, here and here
Facts about Danish feta here
Something you can do with feta here and here
Something you can do with the Commission here