Champagne and Parmesan
Is a monopolized market ever the best structure for a society? The European Union is trying to do exactly that. They are trying to monopolize markets that they feel they can exclusively provide, allowing them to inflate prices to reap more profits. Champagne and parmesan cheese are both household items that are used every day throughout the world. They are not looked at as an inimitable provided product, rather one that is easily attainable and at a relatively inexpensive price.
However, creating exclusivity gives the region more control on their product. They can better monitor the quality, the inputs in the production and in return, the outcome. These are all wonderful things for true authentic champagne, but should one region be allowed to control the global market on a particular product? There has already been a law passed in the late 19th century that prohibits any vineyard not in Champagne to make a drink called “champagne”. What we normally refer to as “champagne” is technically “sparkling wine”. This was noted in the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War 1, making it a law in every country that signed the treaty. However, The United States never signed the Treaty, so American vineyards were never forced to follow this until the U.S restricted the use of the name “champagne” for all wines made after 2006.
Being that there are already regulations in this country that protects the authenticity of true champagne from the Champagne region, any further restrictions are deemed unnecessary. Creating a product that is very similar with a different name happens every day in the world. For example, a laptop; a Dell, MacBook, Toshiba are all laptop’s and none of which were pioneers but are still allowed to exist. They do not pretend to be each other but still have and can perform like functions.
I understand that a creator would want to protect its’ product and produce it the way it was intended, but to prevent others from producing similar items is a bit preposterous. Can it be possible to have champagne from both California and Champagne and have parmesan cheese created outside its native region?