Despite the fact that purist chocolate-loving nations such as France and Belgium agreed to accept what they regard as impure British chocolate two years ago, Spain and Italy have steadfastly refused to allow British chocolate to even be called chocolate.

Insisting it contains too much vegetable fat, is too milky, and cannot be seriously compared to its continental counterpart - traditionally made using 100% pure cocoa butter - Spain and Italy demanded that it be called "chocolate substitute".

The European court of justice in Luxembourg ruled against them yesterday, saying they had breached EU trade rules and must drop their ban. The case was brought by the European commission on behalf of Britain and a handful of other countries, such as Ireland, whose recipes for chocolate were also deemed an affront to Spanish and Italian consumers.

However, the court put the issue of what really constitutes chocolate to bed once and for all. It said: "The characteristic element of all products bearing the name chocolate is the presence of a certain minimum cocoa and cocoa butter content. (But) the addition of vegetable fats does not substantially alter the nature of those products." Making it clear in or near the list of ingredients that British chocolate does contain vegetable fat was more than enough to inform consumers, it added.

The ruling was hailed as a victory for common sense. "For the Cadbury's factory making Dairy Milk in Birmingham, and the people in York putting Terry's chocolate oranges, together this ruling is a sweet victory indeed," said Gary Titley, Labour's most senior MEP.

"Italian and Spanish consumers will be liberated to choose British favourites like Crunchies, Double Deckers, Wispas, and Flakes on an equal footing with local products as familiar as Ferrero Rocher." Philip Whitehead, a Labour MEP who specialises in consumer affairs, noted that it marked the end of a bizarre dispute that had dragged on for far too long.

The chocolate wars began on the first day that Britain joined the EU in 1973, along with Denmark and Ireland. All three won an exemption from EU rules stipulating that chocolate must contain only cocoa and no vegetable fat. Other countries who joined the EU later obtained the same opt-out, but until 2000 eight member states - Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands - banned vegetable fat in domestic and imported chocolate.

In 2000 a deal was struck. British-style milk chocolate (which contains 20% milk) was cleared for export to the eight, provided it was labelled "family milk chocolate".