1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/83/EEC
of 19 October 1992
on the harmonization of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages
(OJ L 316, 31.10.1992, p. 21)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►A1 Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak
Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European
Union is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
▼B
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 92/83/EEC
of 19 October 1992
on the harmonization of the structures of excise duties on alcohol
and alcoholic beverages
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 99 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas Directive 92/12/EEC lays down provisions on the general
arrangements for products subjects subject to excise duty (4);
Whereas Directive 92/84/EEC (5) lays down minimum rates of excise
duty to be applied in the Member States to alcohol and alcoholic
beverages;
Whereas it is important to the proper functioning of the internal market
to determine common definitions for all the products concerned;
Whereas it is useful to base such definitions on those set out in the
combined nomenclature in force at the date of the adoption of thisDirective;
Whereas, in the case of beer, it is possible to permit alternative
methods of calculating the duty on the finished product;
Whereas, in the case of beer, it is possible within certain limits to
permit Member States to apply the duty to gravity bands of more thanone degree Plato, provided always that no beer is charged at less thanthe Community minimum rate;
Whereas, in the case of beer produced in small independent breweries
and ethyl alcohol produced in small distilleries, common solutions arerequired permitting Member States to apply reduced rates of duty to
those products;
Whereas it is possible to permit variations in the strength at which
Member States commence to subject beer to duty, provided that no
unacceptable problems are caused in the internal market;
Whereas in the case of beer, wine and other fermented berages it is
advisable to permit Member States to exempt from duty home-made
products which are not produced for commercial purposes;
Whereas, in principle, Member States should apply a single rate per
hectolitre of finished product to all still wine and other still fermentedbeverages, and a single rate of duty per hectolitre of finished product toall sparkling wine and sparkling fermented beverages;
Whereas it is advisable to permit Member States to apply reduced rates
of duty to all kinds of wine and other fermented beverages providedalways that the actual alcoholic strength of the products does notexceed 8,5 % vol.;
Whereas Member States applying a higher rate of duty to certain wines
on 1 January 1992 should be permitted to continue to do so;
Whereas in principle, Member States should apply a single rate of duty
per hectolitre of finished product to all intermediate products;1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 322, 21. 12. 1990, p. 11.
(2) OJ No C 67, 16. 3. 1992, p. 165.
(3) OJ No C 96, 18. 3. 1991, p. 25.
(4) OJ No L 76, 23. 3. 1992, p. 1.
(5) See page 29 of this Official Journal.
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Whereas it is advisable to permit Member States to apply a reduced
rate of the intermediate products duty, on the one hand to products ofstrengths not exceeding 15 % vol., and on the other hand to natural
sweet wines;
Whereas, in principle, Member States should apply the same rate of
duty per hectolitre of pure alcohol to all ethyl alcohol as defined in
this Directive;
Whereas it is possible to permit Member States to apply reduced rates
or exemptions for certain products of a regional and traditional nature;
Whereas, in the cases where Member States are permitted to apply
reduced rates, such reduced rates should not cause distortion of compe-
tition within the internal market;
Whereas Member States should be permitted to refund the excise duty
on alcoholic drinks which have become unfit for consumption;
Whereas it is necessary to lay down at Community level the exemp-
tions which apply to goods which are transported between Member
States;
Whereas, however, it is possible to permit Member States an option to
apply exemptions tied to end-uses within their territory;
Whereas it is necessary to provide for a system of notification of the
denaturing requirements of each Member State for completely dena-
tured alcohol, and for their acceptance by other Member States;
Whereas Member States should not be deprived of the means of
combating any evaision, avoidance or abuse which may arise in the
field of exemptions;
Whereas Member States should be permitted to give effect to the
exemptions required by this Directive by way of refund;
Whereas, since certain Member States apply a higher rate of duty to
‘other sparkling fermented beverages’ than to intermediate products,
they should be permitted to apply this higher rate to intermediate
products having the characteristics of these ‘other sparkling fermentedbeverages’,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
SECTION I
BEER
Scope
Article 1
1. Member States shall apply an excise duty to beer in accordance
with this Directive.
2. Member States shall fix their rates in accordance with Directive
92/84/EEC.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive, the term ‘beer’ covers any product
falling within CN code 2203 or any product containing a mixture ofbeer with non-alcoholic drinks falling within CN code 2206, in eithercase with an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 0,5 % vol.
Establishment of the duty
Article 3
1. The excise duty levied by Member States on beer shall be fixed
by reference either:
— to the number of hectolitre/degrees Plato,1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 3
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or
— to the number of hectolitre/degrees of actual alcoholic strength by
volume
of finished product.2. In assessing the charge to duty on beer in accordance with the
requirements of Directive 92/84/EEC, Member States may ignore frac-tions of a degree Plato or degree of actual alcoholic strength byvolume.
In addition, Member States which levy the duty by reference to the
number of hectolitre/degrees Plato may divide beer into categoriesconsisting of no more than four degrees Plato per category and charge
the same rate of duty per hectolitre on all beers falling within each
category. Such rates shall invariably equal or exceed the minimumrate laid down in Article 6 of Directive 92/84/EEC, hereinafter referredto as the minimum rate.
Article 4
1. Member States may apply reduced rates of duty, which may be
differentiated in accordance with the annual production of the brew-eries concerned, to beer brewed by independent small brewerieswithin the following limits:
— the reduced rates shall not be applied to undertakings producing
more than 200 000 hl of beer per year,
— the reduced rates, which may fall below the minimum rate, shall
not be set more than 50 % below the standard national rate of
excise duty.
2. For the purposes of the reduced rates the term ‘independent small
brewery’ shall mean a brewery which is legally and economically inde-
pendent of any other brewery, which uses premises situated physicallyapart from those of any other brewery and does not operate underlicence. However, where two or more small breweries cooperate, andtheir combined annual production does not exceed 200 000 hl, those
breweries may be treated as a single independent small brewery.
3. Member States shall ensure that any reduced rates they may intro-
duce apply equally to beer delivered into their territory from
independent small breweries situated in other Member States. In parti-cular they shall ensure that no individual delivery from anotherMember States ever bears more duty than its exact national equivalent.
Article 5
1. Member States may apply reduced rates, which may fall below
the minimum rate, for beer with an actual alcoholic strength by volumenot exceeding 2,8 % vol.
2. Member States may confine the application of this Article to
products containing a mixture of beer with non-alcoholic drinks fallingwithin CN code 2206.
Article 6
Subject to such conditions as they shall lay down to ensure the straigth-
forward application of the exemption, Member States may exempt fromexcise duty beer produced by a private individual and consumed by theproducer, members of his family or his guests, provided that no sale isinvolved.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 4
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SECTION II
WINE
Scope
Article 7
1. Member States shall apply an excise duty to wine in accordance
with this Directive.
2. Member States shall fix their rates in accordance with Directive
92/84/EEC.
Article 8
For the purposes of this Directive:1. The term ‘still wine’ covers all products falling within CN codes
2204 and 2205, except sparkling wine as defined in paragraph 2 ofthis Article:
— having an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1,2 %
vol. but not exceeding 15 % vol., provided that the alcoholcontained in the finished product is entirely of fermented origin,
— having an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 15 %
vol. and not exceeding 18 % vol. provided they have beenproduced without any enrichment and that the alcohol containedin the finished product is entirely of fermented origin;
2. The term ‘sparkling wine’ covers all products falling within CN
codes 2204 10, 2204 21 10, 2204 29 10 and 2205:
— are contained in bottles with ‘mushroom stoppers’ held in place
by ties or fastenings, or they have an excess pressure due tocarbon dioxide in solution of three bar or more,
— have an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1,2 %
vol. but not exceeding 15 % vol., provided that the alcohol
contained in the finished product is entirely of fermented origin.
Establishment of the duty
Article 9
1. The excise duty levied by Member States on wine shall be fixed
by reference to the number of hectolitres of finished product.
2. Except as provided in paragraphs 3 and 4, Member States shall
levy the same rate of excise duty on all products chargeable with the
duty on still wine. Similarly, they shall levy the same rate of exciseduty on products chargeable with the duty on sparkling wine. theymay apply the same rate of duty to both still and sparkling wine.
3. Member States may apply reduced rates of excise duty to any
type of still wine and sparkling wine of an actual alcoholic strengthby volume not exceeding 8,5 % vol.
4. Member States which on 1 January 1992 applied a higher rate of
duty to still wines as defined in Article (8) (1), second indent, may
continue to apply this rate. This higher rate must not be more than thestandard national rate applied to intermediate products.
Article 10
Subject to such conditions as they shall lay down to ensure the straigth-
forward application of this Article, Member States may exempt fromexcise duty wine produced by a private individual and consumed bythe producer, members of his family or his guests, provided no sale isinvolved.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 5
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SECTION III
FERMENTED BEVERAGES OTHER THAN WINE AND BEER
Scope
Article 11
1. Member States shall appaly an excise duty to fermented
beverages other than beer and wine (other fermented beverages) inaccordance with this Directive.
2. Member States shall fix their rates in accordance with Directive
92/84/EEC.
Article 12
For the purposes of this Directive and without prejudice to the provi-
sions of Article 17:
1. The term ‘other still fermented beverages’ covers all products falling
within CN codes 2204 and 2205 but not mentioned in Article 8
above, and products falling within CN code 2206, except other
sparkling fermented beverages as defined in point 2 of this Articleand any product covered by Article 2:
— having an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1,2 %
vol. but not exceeding 10 % vol.,
— having an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 10 %
but not exceeding 15 % vol., provided that the alcohol containedin the product is entirely of fermented origin.
2. The term ‘other sparkling fermented beverages’ covers all products
falling within CN code 2206 00 91 as well as products falling withinCN codes 2204 10, 2204 21 10, 2204 29 10 and 2205 not mentionedin Article 8 above which:
— are contained in bottles with ‘mushroom stoppers’ held in place
by ties or fastenings, or they have an excess pressure due tocarbon dioxide in solution of three bar or more,
— have an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 1,2 %
vol., but not exceeding 13 % vol.,
— have an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 13 %, but
not exceeding 15 % vol., provided that the alcohol contained in
the product is entirely of fermented origin.
Establishment of the duty
Article 13
1. The exercise duty levied by Member States on other fermented
beverages shall be fixed by reference to the number of hectolitres of
finished product.
2. Except as provided in paragraph 3, Member States shall levy the
same rate of excise duty on all products chargeable with the duty onother still fermented beverages. Similarly they shall levy the same rateof excise duty on all products chargeable with the duty on other spark-
ling fermented beverages. They may apply the same rate of excise duty
to both other still fermented beverages and other sparkling fermentedbeverages.
3. Member States may apply reduced rates of excise duty to any
type of other still and sparkling fermented beverages of an actual alco-holic strength by volume not exceeding 8,5 % vol.
Article 14
Subjet to such conditions as they shall lay down to ensure the straight-
forward application of this Article, Member States may exempt fromexcise duty other still and sparkling fermented beverages produced bya private individual and consumed by the producer, members of hisfamily or his guests, provided no sale is involved.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 6
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Article 15
For the application of Directive 92/84/EEC and Directive 92/12/EEC,
references to ‘wine’ shall be deemed to apply equally to otherfermented beverages as defined in this section.
SECTION IV
INTERMEDIATE PRODUCTS
Scope
Article 16
1. Member States shall apply an excise duty to intermediate
products in accordance with this Directive.
2. Member States shall fix their rates in accordance with Directive
92/84/EEC. Such rates shall never fall below the rates which Member
States apply to the products of Articles 8 (1) and 12 (1) of the present
Directive.
Article 17
1. For the purposes of this Directive the term ‘intermediate
products’ covers all products of an actual alcoholic strength by volume
exceeding 1,2 % vol, but not exceeding 22 % vol and falling within
CN codes 2204, 2205 and 2206 but not covered by Articles 2, 8 and12.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 12, Member States may
treat as an intermediate product any still fermented beverage fallingwithin the scope of Article 12 (1) which has an actual alcoholicstrength exceeding 5,5 % vol. and which is not entirely of fermentedorigin, and any sparkling fermented beverage falling within the scope
of Article 12 (2) which has an actual alcoholic strength exceeding
8,5 vol. and which is not entirely of fermented origin.
Establishment of the duty
Article 18
1. The excise duty levied by Member States on intermediate
products shall be fixed by reference to the number of hectolitres offinished product.
2. Except as provided in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, Member States shall
charge the same rate of duty on all products chargeable with the duty
on intermediate products.
3. A Member State may apply a single reduced rate of duty to inter-
mediate products with an actual alcoholic strength by volume not
exceeding 15 % vol. subject to the following conditions:
— the reduced rate shall not be set more than 40 % below the standard
national rate of excise duty,
— the reduced rate may not be less than the standard national rate
applied to products covered by Articles 8 (1) and 12 (1) of thisDirective.
4. Member States may apply a single reduced rate of duty to inter-
mediate products which are defined in Article 13 (1) and (2) ofRegulation (EEC) No 4252/88.
The reduced rate
— may fall below the minimum rate but shall not be set more than
50 % below the standard national rate of excise duty,
or
— shall not be set below the minimum rate applied to intermediate
products.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 7
▼B
5. For intermediate products which are contained in bottles with
‘mushroom stoppers’ held in place by ties or fastenings, or have anexcess pressure due to carbon dioxide in solution of three bars or
more, Member States may apply the same rate as provided for products
falling within the scope of Article 12 (2), provided that this rate ishigher than the national rate for intermediate products.
SECTION V
ETHYL ALCOHOL
Scope
Article 19
1. Member States shall apply an excise duty to ethyl alcohol in
accordance with this Directive.
2. Member States shall fix their rates in accordance with Directive
92/84/EEC.
Article 20
For the purposes of this Directive the term ‘ethyl alcohol’ covers:
— all products with an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding
1,2 % volume which fall within CN codes 2207 and 2208, evenwhen those products form part of a product which falls withinanother chapter of the CN,
— products of CN codes 2204, 2205 and 2206 which have an actual
alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 22 % vol.,
— potable spirits containing products, whether in solution or not.
Establishment of the duty
Article 21
The excise duty on ethyl alcohol shall be fixed per hectolitre of pure
alcohol at 20ºC, and shall be calculated by reference to the number ofhectolitres of pure alcohol. Subject to the provisions of Article 22,Member States shall charge the same rate of duty on all productschargeable with the duty on ethyl alcohol.
Article 22
1. Member States may apply reduced rates of excise duty to ethyl
alcohol produced by small distilleries within the following limits:
— the reduced rates, which may fall below the minimum rate, shall
not be applied to undertakings producing more than 10 hectolitres
of pure alcohol per year. However, Member States which appliedreduced rates on 1 January 1992 to undertakings producing between10 hectolitres and 20 hectolitres of pure alcohol per year maycontinue to do so,
— the reduced rates shall not be set more than 50 % below the stan-
dard national rate of excise duty.
2. For the purposes of the reduced rates, the term ‘small distillery’
shall mean a distillery which is legally and economically independentof any other distillery and which does not operate under licence.
3. Member States shall ensure that any reduced rate they may intro-
duce applies equally to ethyl alcohol delivered into their territory from
independent small producers situated in other Member States.
4. Member States may lay down provisions whereby the alcohol
produced by small producers shall be released for free circulation assoon as it is obtained (provided the producers have not themselvescarried out any intra-Community transactions) without being subjectedto the tax warehousing arrangements, and be taxed definitively on aflat-rate basis.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 8
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5. Member States may apply reduced rates of duty to products
falling within CN code 2208 which have an actual alcohol strength byvolume not exceeding 10 % vol.
6. The Czech Republic may apply a reduced rate of excise duty, of
not less than 50 % of the standard national rate of excise duty on ethylalcohol, to ethyl alcohol produced by fruit growers' distilleries produ-cing, on an annual basis, more than 10 hectolitres of ethyl alcoholfrom fruit supplied to them by fruit growers' households. The applica-
tion of the reduced rate shall be limited to 30 litres of fruit spirits per
producing fruit growers' household per year, destined exclusively fortheir personal consumption.
7. Slovakia and Hungary may apply a reduced rate of excise duty, of
not less than 50 % of the standard national rate of excise duty on ethylalcohol, to ethyl alcohol produced by fruit growers' distilleries produ-
cing, on an annual basis, more than 10 hectolitres of ethyl alcohol
from fruit supplied to them by fruit growers' households. The applica-tion of the reduced rate shall be limited to 50 litres of fruit spirits perproducing fruit growers' household per year, destined exclusively fortheir personal consumption. The Commission will review this arrange-ment in 2015 and report to the Council on possible modifications.
Article 23
The following Member States may apply a reduced rate, which may
fall below the minimum rate but not be set more than 50 % below the
standard national rate of duty on ethyl alcohol, to the followingproducts:
1. the French Republic, in respect of rum as defined in Article 1 (4) (a)
of Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 and produced from sugar caneharvested in the place of manufacture as set out at Article 1 (3) (1)
of that Regulation, having a content of volatile substances other than
ethyl and methyl alcohol equal to or exceeding 225 grams per hecto-litre of pure alcohol, and an actual alcoholic strength by volumeequal to or exceeding 40 % vol.;
2. the Hellenic Republic, in respect of those aniseed flavoured spirit
drinks defined in Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 which are colour-
less and have a sugar content of 50 grams or less per litre, and inwhich at least 20 % of the alcoholic strength of the final product iscomposed of alcohol flavoured by distillation in traditional discon-tinuous copper stills with a capacity of 1 000 litres or less.
SECTION VI
MISCELLANEOUS
Article 24
1. Member States need not require that products covered by this
Directive shall be manufactured in a tax warehouse from constituent
alcoholic products which are held in suspension of the relevant exciseduties, provided that the duty on the constituents has already been paidin advance and that the total tax payable on the constituent alcoholicproducts is not less than the tax payable on the product which results
from their mixture.
2. The Kingdom of Spain need not consider as the manufacture of
intermediate products the preparation of wines produced in the regionsof Moriles-Montilla, Tarragona, Priorato and Terra Alta, to whichalcohol has been added in such a way that their alcoholic strengthdoes not increase by more than 1 % vol.
Article 25
Member States may refund the excise duty on alcoholic drinks with-
drawn from the market because their condition or age renders themunfit for human consumption.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 9
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Article 26
References in this Directive to CN codes shall be to those of the
version of the combined nomenclature in force when this Directive isadopted.
SECTION VII
EXEMPTIONS
Article 27
1. Member States shall exempt the products covered by this Direc-
tive from the harmonized excise duty under conditions which they shalllay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforwardapplication of such exemptions and of preventing any evasion, avoid-ance or abuse:
(a) when distributed in the form of alcohol which has been completely
denatured in accordance with the requirements of any MemberState, such requirements having been duly notified and acceptedin accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article. This exemp-
tion shall be conditional on the application of the provisions of
Directive 92/12/EEC to commercial movements of completelydenatured alcohol;
(b) when both denatured in accordance with the requirements of any
Member State and used for the manufacture of any product notfor human consumption;
(c) when used for the production of vinegar falling within CN code
2209;
(d) when used for the production of medicines defined by Directive 65/
65/EEC;
(e) when used for the production of flavours for the preparation of
foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages with an alcohol strengthnot exceeding 1,2 % vol.;
(f) when used directly or as a constituent of semi-finished products for
the production of foodstuffs, filled or otherwise, provided that ineach case the alcoholic content does not exceed 8,5 litres of pure
alcohol per 100 kg of the product for chocolates, and 5 litres of
pure alcohol per 100 kg of the product for other products.
2. Member States may exempt the products covered by this Direc-
tive from the harmonized excise duty under conditions which they
shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightfor-
ward application of such exemptions and of preventing any evasion,avoidance or abuse, when used:
(a) as samples for analysis, for necessary production tests, or for scien-
tific purposes;
(b) for scientific research;
(c) for medical purposes in hospitals and pharmacies;
(d) in a manufacturing process provided that the final product does not
contain alcohol;
(e) in the manufacture of a component product which is not subject to
excise duty under this Directive.
3. Before 1 January 1993 and three months before any intended
subsequent change in national law, each Member State shall communi-cate to the Commission, together with all relevant information, thedenaturants which it intends to employ for the purposes of paragraph1 (a). The Commission shall transmit the communications to the otherMember States within one month of receipt.
4. If, within two months of the other Member States being informed,
neither the Commission nor any Member State has requested that thematter be raised in the Council, the Council shall be deemed to haveauthorized the denaturing processes notified. If an objection is raised1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 10
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within the time limit, a decision shall be taken in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 24 of Directive 92/12/EEC.
5. If a Member State finds that a product which has been exempted
under paragraphs 1 (a) or 1 (b) above gives rise to evasion, avoidance
or abuse, it may refuse to grant exemption or withdraw the reliefalready granted. The Member State shall advise the Commission forth-with. The Commission shall transmit the communication to the otherMember States within one month of receipt. A final decision shallthen be taken in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
24 of Directive 92/12/EEC. Member States shall not be obliged to
give retroactive effet to such a decision.
6. Member States shall be free to give effect to the exemptions
mentioned above by means of a refund of excise duty paid.
Article 28
The United Kingdom may continue to apply the exemptions which it
applied on 1 January 1992 to the following products:
— concentrated malt beverage the worts of which prior to fermentation
were of a specific gravity of 1 200 of Original Gravity (47º Plato)
or more;
— aromatic bitters of an actual alcoholic strength from 44,2 to 49,2 %
vol., containing from 1,5 % to 6 % by weight of gentian, spices andother aromatic ingredients and from 4 to 10 % by weight of sugar,delivered in containers holding 0,2 litres or less of product.
SECTION VIII
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 29
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not
later than 31 December 1992. They shall forthwith inform the Commis-
sion thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a refer-
ence to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on theoccasion of their official publication. The methods of making suchreference shall be laid down by the Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of
the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field
governed by this Directive.
Article 30
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1992L0083 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 001.001 — 11