Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:340
Date: 2000-06-22
Language of the case: Italian
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Wine
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Wine — Compulsory distilla­
tion of table wine — Article 39(3), (4) and (11) of Regulation No 822/87 and Regulation 
No 343/94 — Assessment of validity — Whether the Community legislation relating to 
the obligation on Italian producers to distil certain quantities of table wine during the 
1993/94 wine year is unlawful — Not unlawful 
(Council Regulation No 822/87, Art. 39(3), (4) and (11); Commission Regulation 
No 343/94) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-155/99 
The validity of Article 39(3), (4) and (11) 
of Regulation No 822/87 on the common 
organisation of the market in wine, as 
amended by Regulation No 1566/93, or of 
Regulation No 343/94 opening compulsory 
distillation as provided for in Article 39 of 
Regulation No 822/87 and derogating for 
the 1993/94 wine year from certain 
detailed rules for the application thereof is 
not affected by the contention that a 
significant difference in the ratio between 
the quantities available and normal con­
sumption for the 1993/94 wine year com­
pared with the reference years was not 
established in adopting Article 1 of Regu­
lation No 343/94 and that the duty to state 
reasons was therefore infringed, the con­
tention that the adjustment of the reference 
percentage calculated by the Commission 
for that wine year is misconceived, the 
contention that the method of calculating 
the adjustment of the reference percentage, 
as established by Regulation No 1972/87, 
is unlawful or the contention that the 
scheme for the compulsory distillation of 
table wine in its entirety is, and always has 
been, unsuited to market conditions. 
(see paras 11, 13 and operative part) 
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