Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2333/92 laying down general rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines (96/C 74/14) COM(95) 744 final - 96/0008(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 5 January 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1544/95 (2), and in particular Article 72 (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas quality sparkling wines produced in specified regions (quality sparkling wines psr) must be produced in the specified region and whereas the compulsory showing of the producer's name on the label may help consumers to identify the place of production; whereas, under those circumstances, the Member States should be able to make it compulsory in certain cases to indicate the producer's name on the label;

Whereas provision must be made for the possibility, already open in certain Member States, of using one or more traditional terms as a sales description for certain sparkling wines;

Whereas the sugar in sparkling wines as a finished product may comprise residual sugar and added sugar; whereas the Regulation should be adapted accordingly;

Whereas the details required to inform the consumer about the sugar content should be specified;

Whereas using the name of a vine variety to designate a sparkling wine has a connotation of quality for consumers; whereas this factor should be enhanced and provision should be made, if the name of a vine variety is to be used on the label, for the production process and the fermentation process to last at least a minimum period;

Whereas, in order to prevent the misuse of names of vine varieties on the label, their repetition must be banned, except where the same name recurs;

Whereas, in the production of certain sparkling wines, three vine varieties must be used to give the wine its character; whereas provision should be made for the possibility of the names of those three vine varieties being used on the labels of such wines;

Whereas in Case C-309/89 (3) the Court of Justice declared void Article 6 (6) (b) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2333/92 (4) and by the same token the conditions governing the use of the term 'crémant`; whereas, however, that term is used for products which meet stringend production conditions and which, as a result, have gained a certain reputation among consumers; whereas, to prevent the meaning of the term from being diluted, the minimum production conditions to be met if the term is used must be defined;

Whereas the conditions governing the use of certain terms have been defined in some Member States; whereas, to avoid creating confusion and misleading consumers, provision should be made for those terms to be used only under those conditions;

Whereas sparkling wines can only be put on the market in labelled glass bottles, closed with mushroom-shaped stoppers in accordance with conditions laid down by regulation; whereas provision should be made for exceptions covering trade between wine-growers and provided that such exceptions are subject to controls;

Whereas 'Champagne`-type or similar bottles have been used for a very long time to market sparkling wines; whereas that type of bottle is also used traditionally for certain alcoholic beverages produced by the fermentation of fruit or other agricultural raw materials; whereas beverages put up in such bottles have certain special connotations in the eyes of consumers, and in particular that of fermented beverages; whereas, in order to avoid any confusion in the minds of consumers concerning the type of beverage concerned and to check certain misuses of this type of bottle, it should be made clear that the use of such bottles is reserved for sparkling wines while the possibility of their use for certain beverages traditionally put up in this way should be safeguarded;

Whereas, in certain Member States, for a quality sparkling wine to be deemed a quality sparkling wine psr, the product must be given a control number; whereas such products must circulate in labelled glass bottles fitted with mushroom-shaped stoppers on which the name of the specified region must appear; whereas provision must nevertheless be made for a wine not deemed a quality sparkling wine psr following a check to be sold as a sparkling wine or as a quality sparkling wine even if the name of the specified region appears on the cork,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2333/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The following subparagraph is inserted after the first subparagraph of Article 3 (2):

'However, the Member States may make it compulsory for only the name or business name of the producer to be shown.`

2. (a) The following subparagraph is added to Article 5 (2) (c):

'However, the Member States may require that, in the case of certain quality sparkling wines psr produced on their territory, certain expressions referred to in the first subparagraph are be used either on their own or in combination.`

(b) In Article 5 (3):

(i) The word 'residual` is deleted each time it appears.

(ii) The following indent is inserted as the first indent in the first subparagraph:

'- "brut nature" or "no dosage":

if the sugar content is less than 3 grams per litre; these terms can only be used for sparkling wine to which expedition liqueur is not added after disgorging but only the quantity of sparkling wine necessary to bring the level in the bottle back to what it was originally`.

3. The following points are added to the second subparagraph of Article 6 (2):

'(c) (a) the name of a variety can be repeated in the same expression only where more than one variety bearing that name exists`;

'(e) the length of the production process, including ageing in the establishment of production, reckoned from the start of the fermentation process designed to make the cuvée sparkling, has not been less than 90 days and provided that the duration of fermentation designed to make the cuvée sparkling and the presence of the cuvée on the lees have lasted at least 60 days.`

4. The second indent of the third subparagraph of Article 6 (2) is replaced by the following:

'- authorize use of the names of two or three vine varieties where the regulations of the Member State so provide and on condition that all the grapes from which the product was obtained come from those three varieties, with the exception of the products contained in tirage liqueur and expedition liqueur and if the blend of those two or three varieties is crucial for the product's distinctive character`.

5. Article 6 (3) (c) is replaced by the following:

'(c) the process of fermentation designed to make the cuvée sparkling and the presence of the cuvée on the lees have lasted at least 90 days`.

6. Article 6 (6) (b) is replaced by the following:

'(b) the term "crémant" shall be reserved for products:

- made from must obtained by pressing whole grapes, the quantity of must obtained not exceeding 100 litres for every 150 kg of grapes,

- with a maximum sulphur dioxide content of 150 mg/l,

- with a sugar content of less than 50 g/l, and

- produced in accordance with additional special rules governing their production and description by the Member State or the country in which they are made.`

7. In Article 6, the following paragraph is inserted after paragraph 11:

'11a. The terms "Super Reserva" and "Velha Reserva" may be used only under the conditions laid down by the Member States.`

8. In Article 10:

(a) The following subparagraph is inserted after the first subparagraph of paragraph 1:

'However, in the case of products covered by Article 1 (1) which are produced by a second alcoholic fermentation in the bottle in accordance with the traditional method referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 6 (4), exceptions may be allowed in trade between wine-growers in products still in the process of production where they are closed with a crown stopper and are not labelled, provided they are covered by an accompanying document and that they are subject to adequate controls.`

(b) The following paragraph is inserted after paragraph 1:

'1a. Only products covered by Article 1 (1) may be put up in "Champagne"-type or similar bottles fitted with closing devices as referred to in paragraph 1 (a) with a view to sale or placing on the market, including for export.

However that type of bottle may be used for non-food products other than beverages. It may be used for beverages, subject to the second subparagraph of Article 14 (1), provided they are produced by alcoholic fermentation of fruit or another agricultural raw material and that they are traditionally put up in such bottles.`

(c) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

'2. In so far as their description and presentation are not governed by this Regulation, they may be governed by detailed rules of application, in particular as regards:

(a) the positioning of labels on containers;

(b) the minimum size of labels;

(c) the arrangement on the label of the various items making up the description;

(d) the size of the characters on labels;

(e) the use of symbols, illustrations and brand names;

(f) the type of closing device as referred to in paragraph 1;

(g) the type of bottle as referred to in paragraph 1 (a).`

9. The following paragraph is added to Article 13:

'4. The description, presentation and advertising of products other than those covered by Article 1 (1) may not indicate, imply or suggest that the product concerned is a sparkling wine.`

10. The following subparagraph is added to Article 15 (1):

'However, where, following a check by the competent authority, sparkling wines are not deemed quality sparkling wines psr, the corks on such wines may, by way of an exception, continue to be marked with the name of a specified region.`

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 148, 30. 6. 1995, p. 31.

(3) Codorniu SA v. Council of the European Union [1994] ECR I-1853.

(4) OJ No L 231, 13. 8. 1992, p. 9.