(AGENPARL) - Roma, 13 Novembre 2025 - (AGENPARL) – Thu 13 November 2025 PRESS RELEASE No 140/25
Luxembourg, 13 November 2025
Judgment of the Court in Case C-563/24 | PB Vi Goods
A non-alcoholic beverage may not be sold as gin
That name is reserved for a specific alcoholic beverage
A German association for combating unfair competition brought an action against the company PB Vi Goods
for an order prohibiting that company from selling a non-alcoholic beverage named ‘Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei’
(non-alcoholic Virgin Gin).
The association is of the view that that name is contrary to EU law, 1 according to which gin should be
produced by flavouring ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with juniper berries, and the minimum alcoholic
strength by volume of that ethyl alcohol must be 37.5%.
The German court referred questions to the Court of Justice in that connection.
The Court finds that there is a clear prohibition in EU law on presenting and labelling a beverage such
as that in question as ‘non-alcoholic gin’, due to the very fact that that beverage does not contain alcohol.
The fact that the legal name ‘gin’ is accompanied by the term ‘non-alcoholic’ is irrelevant in that regard.
The freedom to conduct a business enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
does not preclude that prohibition and does not therefore render it invalid.
More specifically, the prohibition does not prevent the product in question from being sold, but merely from
being sold under the legal name reserved for a specific spirit drink, gin.
Moreover, that prohibition is proportionate, in so far as it is intended to protect consumers against the risk
of confusion as to the composition of the products as well as gin producers complying with the
requirements laid down in EU law against unfair competition.
NOTE: A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes
which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of
EU law or the validity of an EU act. The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself. It is for the
national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly
binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.
The full text and, as the case may be, an abstract of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the
day of delivery.
Communications Directorate
Press and Information Unit
curia.europa.eu
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Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and
labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of
geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing
Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1096 of 21 April 2021.