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COM(81)543
Vol.1981/0163

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)543 final
Brussels .29September 1981
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Proposal for a
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
amending for thethird time Regulation (EEC)No355/79
laying down general rules forthedescription and
presentation ofwines andgrape musts
(submitted totheCouncil bytheCommission )
I C0M(81 )543 final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Thepropose ofthis proposed Regulation istoamend Regulation (EEC)N°355/79
laying down general rules forthediscription andpresentation ofwines and
grape musts .Theamendments concern thefollowing points :
-Extension fortwoyears ofthetransitional period during which indication
oftheactual alcoholic strength ,isoptional .Thearrangements wiht regard
toindication ofactual alcoholic strength vary from Member State toMember
State ,andmore time isneeded towork out adefinitive Community system ,
-Extension fortwoyears ofthetransitional period during which' indication
ofareference tothebottling ofaquality wine psr inthearea of
production may bemade ,inorder toenable thebottlers concerned tomake
thenecessary adjustments ,
-Introduction ofthepossibility ofdesignating table wines resulting rfrom ,
thecoupage ofwines from various Member States byindicating theMember
States from which thewines used forthis coupage come , -
-Authorization totheMember States topermit certain indications onthe -
labels ofwines which aremade inanofficial language oftheCommunity to
beaccompanied bytheir translation inanother language .
Adoption ofthis Regulation will notinvolve anyexpenditure intheCommunity
budget . ,- * " -

PROPOSAL FOR
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC )
amending forthethird time Regulation (EEC)N°355/79 ^
laying down general rules forthedescription and
presentation ofwines andgrape musts
THE COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ?
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
Having regard toCouncil Regulation (EEC)N°337/79of5February 1979 onthe
common organization ofthemarket inwine (1),aslast amended byRegulation
(EEC)N°3456 /80(2),andinparticular Article 54(1 )therof ,
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
.Council ' v
Whereas Regulation (EEC)N°355/79(3),aslast amended byRegulation (EEC )
N°1016 /81(4),laid down general rules forthedescription andpresentation
ofwines andgrape musts ;
Whereas ,atpresent ,indication oftheactual alcoholic strength byvolume is
optional andhasbeen regulated only foratransitional period ,byRegulation
(EEC )N°355/79 ;whereas ,inaccordance with Article 3(3),Article 13(3 )and
Article 30(4 )ofthat Regulation ,theCouncil should decide notlater than 31August
1981 onthecommon arrangements regarding theindication ofthealcoholic
strength byvolume ofwine toapply after that date ;whereas ,moreover ,
Article 6(3 )ofCouncil Directive 79/112/EEC of18December 1979 onthe
approximation ofthe laws oftheMember States relating tothelabelling ,
presentation andadvertising offoodstuffs forsale totheultimate comume
(5)provides that theCouncil should ,before expiry ofaperiod offour years
(1)OJN°L54,05.03.1979 ,p. 1
(2)OJN°L360 ,31.12.1980 ,p.18
(3)OJNaL54,05.03.1979 ,p.99
(4)OJN°L103 ,15.04.1981 ,p. 7
(5)OJN°L33,08.02.1979 ,p. 1

following notification oftheDirective ,determine therules forlabelling
regarding alcoholic strength ;whereas ,inorder tocoordinate application of
these Community provisions andtoallow time formore thorough study ofthe
question oftheindication .oftheactual alcoholic strength byvolume ,the >
date laid down fortheCouncil Decision should bepostponed fortwoyears ;
Whereas experience hasshown that theexpression "wine from different
countries oftheEuropean Community "asadesignation fortable wines
resulting from acoupage ofproducts from various Member States isneither
easily understood riorappreciated byconsumers ,inparticular incertain
Member States ;whereas provision should therefore bemade ,asanalternative ,
foranother wording ofthedesignation forthese wines ,and fortheMember States
tobeallowed toprohibit one orother ofthe two;
Whereas inorder torespect multilingualism intheCommunity and toensure
full information readily understood byconsumers ,Member States should be
authorized toallow certain indications onlabels ofwine andgrape musts ,
made inoneofficial language oftheCommunity ,toberepeated in^another
language ,provided that useofthis language istraditional andcustomary in
theMember State concerned orinpart ofitsterritory ; :
Whereas thewithdrawal ,planned for31August 1981 ,ofthenight ,tostate that
aquality wine pst rhasbeen bottled intheproduction area could well weaken
thecompetitive capacity ofsome bottlers Jwhereas inorder tofacilitate the
transition tothesituation resulting from thewithdrawal ofthis right ,the
date referred toinArticle 12(2)(r )ofRegulation (EEC)N°355/79should be
postponed bytwoyears ;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION

Article 1
herebyRegulation (EEC )N°355/79is/amended asfollows :
inArticle 12(2)(r ),
1.Thedate "31August 1981' inthesecond subparagraph ofArticle 3(3),/the
second subparagraph ofArticle 13(3 )and/tliefirst subparagraph ofArticle
30(4 )isreplaced by"31August 1983 ".
2.Article 2(l)(d)'and (e)arehereby replaced bythefollowing :
'(d)inthecase of :
-consignment toanother Member State orexport :theMember State inwhose
territory thegrapes were harvested andturned into wine ,provided that
both these operations took place inthesame Member State ;
-table wine which was made inaMember State other than that inwhich the
grapes were harvested :theinitials "EEC";
s i
(e)inthecase oftable wine resulting from coupage :
-ofproducts originating inmore than oneMember State ,either thewords
"wine from different countries oftheEuropean Community "ofthewords
"wine from followed bytheindication oftheMember State from
which thewine used forthis coupage came ,
-ofatable wine referred tointhe second indent of (d)with another
table wine orwith another product with which coupage ispermitted for
theproduction oftable wine ,thewords "wine from different countries of
theEuropean Community ".
(f)inthecase ofthetable wines referred jtointhethird indent ofpoint
11ofAnnex toRegulation (EEC)No337/79:theword "retsina ".
3.Thefollowing paragraph 5aisinserted inArticle 3:
"5a.Forthedesignation oftable wine resulting from acoupage undertaken
ontheir territory ,Member States mayprohibit theuseofoneofthe
twoindications referred tointhefirst indent ofArticle 2(l)(e )."

-4-
4.Article 3(6)isreplaced bythefollowing :
:v -■ ■• /
6.Subject totheprovisions ofthefollowing subparagraphs ,the
information specified inArticle 2shall begiven inoneormore ofthe
official languages oftheCommunity .Fortable vines incirculation on
their territory ,Member States maypermit this information also tobe
given inalanguage -other than anofficial language oftheCommunity ,
provided that theuseofthis language istraditional andcustomary in
theMember State concerned orinpart ofitsterritory .
Oneoftheofficial languages oftheMember State oforigin shall beused :
-forthename ofageographical unit which issmaller than theMember
State ,asreferred toinArticle 2(3 )(a),and
~fortheinformation inrespect ofbottling ,asreferred toinArticle
2(3 )<f) ,
■' . v' ' -
Theinformation referred tointhesecond subparagraph may
-also begiven inanother official language -oftheCommunity ,orina
- - !..
language ether than anofficial language ,under theconditions referred
tointhefirst subparagraph ,or
-begiven solely inanother official language of>the Community ,where the
latter isequated with theofficial language inthat part ofthe
territory oftheMember State oforigin inwhich thegeographical unit
referred toissituated , .■;
where -these practices aretraditional andcustomary intheMember State
concerned ;
Itmay bedecided that theinformation asto :
-thetype ofproduct oraparticular colour ,asreferred toinArticle
2(2)(h), . ,,/
-themethod ofproduction ofthetable wine ,asreferred toinArticle
2(3)(d),and _
-thenatural ortechnical conditions governing theproduction orthe
/ - , . , ' ■
ageing ofthetable wine ,asreferred toinArticle 2(3)(h ),
•■' I .
istobeprovided solely inoneoftheofficial languages oftheMember
State oforigin ;

Except forderogations authorized bytheMember State totake account of
commercial practices ontheir territory ,indication ofthewords "wine from
different countries oftheEuropean Community "referred toinArticle
2(l)(e )shall berepeated ,onasupplementary label ifnecessary ,inan
official language oftheMember State inwhich thewine isoffered tothe
consumer ,ifthis indication appears onthelabel inanother official
language oftheCommunity ;itmayalso berepeated inalanguage other
than anofficial language referred tointhefirst subparagraph and
permitted bythat Member State .
For thedescription oftables wines intended forexport provision may be
made under theimplementing rules forother languages tobeused .
Article 13(6 )isreplaced bythefollowing :
"6.Subject totheprovisions ofthefollowing subparagraphs ,the
indications referred toinArticle 12shall bemade inone ormore of
theofficial languages oftheCommunity .Asregards thequality wines
psrincirculation onthfeir territory ,Member States maypermit these
indications tobemade inalanguage other than anofficial language of
theCommunity aswell ,provided that useofthis language is
traditional andcustomary intheMember State concerned orinpart of
itsterritory . -
Indication ofoneofthespecific traditional expressions referred to'
in(a),(b),(c)or(d)'of thesecond subparagraph ofArticle 16(5 )of
Regulation (EEC)N°338/79maybegiven solely intheofficial language
oftheMember State oforigin .
t–
Theofficial language oftheMember State oforigin shall ;beused for :
-thename ofthespecified region inwhich thequality wine psr
originates , ,
-thename ofageographical unit which issmaller than thespecified
region referred toinArticle 12(2)(1 ),
-thename ofthevineyard orgroup ofvineyards asreferred toin
Article 12(2 )(m),and

-6
""informationinrespectofbottlingasreferredtoinArticle12(2)(q)
.Howevertheinformationspecifiedin-thethirdsubparagraph may
-alsobegiveninanother"officiallanguageoftheCommunity,orina
languageotherthananofficiallanguageundertheconditions
referredtointhefirstsubparagraph or
-begivensolelyin<anotherofficiallanguageoftheCommunitywhere
thelatter.isequatedwiththeofficiallanguageinthatpartofthe
territoryoftheMemberStateoforigininwhichthespecificregion
referredtoissituated,
Wheresuchpracticesaretraditional andcustomaryintheMemberState
concerned ;
Itmaybedecidedthattheinformation asto:
-themethodofproduction,thetypeofproductoraparticularcolour
asreferredtoinArticle12(2)(k),and
-thenaturalortechnicalconditionsgoverningtheproductionorthe
ageingofthe,qualitywinepsr,asreferredtoinArticle12(2)(t),
shallbeprovidedsolely,intheofficiallanguageoftheMemberState
oforigin.
Forthedescription ofqualitywinespsrintendedforexport,the
implementing proceduremayallowotherlanguagestobeused.
6.Article23(4)isreplacedbythefollowing :
"4.Inthedescriptionofproductsotherthantablewineandqualitywines
psronthelabelling,theinformationspecifiedinArticle22shallbe
giveninoneormoreoftheofficiallanguagesoftheCommunity.

-7-
This information mayalso begiven inalanguage other than anofficial
language oftheCommunity provided that theuseofthis language is
traditional andcustomary intheMember State concerned orinpart ofits
territory .
Forthedescription ofproducts other than table wines andquality wines
"psrintended forexport ,provision may bemade under theimplementing rules
forother languages tobeused ."
7.Thefirst subparagraph ofArticle 30(7 )isreplaced bythefollowing :
"7.Inthedescription ofimported products onthelabelling ,the
*
information specified inArticles 27,28and29shall begiven inone
ormore oftheofficial languages oftheCommunity .Forimported
products putinto circulation ontheir territory ,Member States may
permit theinformation also tobegiven inalanguage other than an
official language oftheCommunity provided that useofthis language ''
istraditional andcustomary intheMember State concerned orinpart ■
ofitsterritory ."
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force onthethird dayfollowing its
publication intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
Article 1(1)shall apply with effect from 1September 1981 .
This Regulation shall bebinding initsentirety anddirectly applicable in
all Member States .
Done atBrussels , FortheCouncil
The President