The senator of the Popular Party of Cordoba Cristina Casanueva assured on Tuesday that the Spanish government “has paralyzed” the process of designate the jewels of Cordoba with the designation of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by the European Union.
This was stated by Casanueva during a press conference in which she was accompanied by the coordinator of businesses and independent work of the PP of Córdoba, Blanca Torrent, after holding a meeting with the Provincial Association of Jewelers, Goldsmiths and Watchmakers of Cordoba San Eloy.
In this context, the popular senator regretted that such an important issue for the city of Córdoba, for economic development and employment “is not taken into account” by the Sánchez government, stressing that, not in vain, “the Cordovan jewelry sector represents the 20 percent of the province’s industrial fabric“.
“The PSOE government denies us the funding that we, the people of Cordoba, deserve, it keeps paralyzed an aid as important as the two percent cultural, it has in a drawer vital infrastructures for the province, and now it also blocks the protection of an economic activity as important for Cordoba, as the jewels”, he said.
Furthermore, Casanueva explained that in 2023 the EU approved a regulation to recognize certain artisanal and industrial products as IPG (something similar to agri-food designations of origin, a protected seal).
“It’s a process that involves two phases“First, the designation of the competent authority to process these requests, which must be done by the government of each nation, and a second phase of resolution, control and extensions carried out by the EU,” he detailed.
Thus, the San Eloy Association, with the support of the municipal government of Córdoba, promoted this process, “they did their homework”, and the PP deputies of Córdoba presented to the Congress a proposal of non-law “urging the government to achieve the appointment of this competent authority.
Speed up deadlines
Casanueva questioned the Executive on this matter and, “in the response we received recently, the government states that it is drafting of the regulatory text and that they have a deadline until December 2025, the same deadline that the EU gives to all countries to submit their applications,” explained the popular.
“This means a year and a half of paralysis, and not arriving in time to submit the requests to the EU, which puts us at a disadvantage compared to other requests from other countries,” explained the senator, who insisted that “From the PP we will insist with the government to speed up deadlines, do your homework and the Cordoba jewelry sector can arrive in time to request the IPG from the EU.
For her part, the coordinator of Companies and Independents of the PP of Cordoba, Blanca Torrent, highlighted the importance and history of the Cordovan jewelry sector “which is tradition, innovation and sustainability, with 1,000 companies located in the Cordovan capital that employ more than 15,000 people directly and indirectly.
