Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2332/92 on sparkling wines produced in the Community (96/C 74/13) COM(95) 744 final - 96/0008(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 15 January 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, pursuant to Article 17 (3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2332/92 (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1547/95 (2), the Council may alter the duration of fermentation intended to make the cuvée sparkling and of presence on the lees as set out in paragraph 2 of that Article in line with current scientific knowledge and technological progress;

Whereas, according to the results of scientific research and technological progress to date, the fixing of different periods of fermentation and of presence on the lees for the various fermentation methods used is not warranted; whereas a single minimum period should consequently be laid down for the various methods;

Whereas Article 14 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2332/92 provides that the Member States may permit, until 31 December 1995 at the latest, that the production process of quality sparkling wines psr may involve adding to the cuvée one or more wine-sector products which do not originate in the specified region whose name the wine bears; whereas that time limit has proved too short to allow operators in certain specified regions to adapt to the technical requirements laid down; whereas it should accordingly be extended; whereas, since that derogation covers specific cases only, provision should be made for a system of express authorizations and the names of the regions should be listed in the detailed rules of application,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 2332/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The introductory part of the first subparagraph of Article 14 (2) is replaced by:

'Notwithstanding the first indent of paragraph 1, where the practice is traditional and governed by special provisions in the Member State of production, that Member State may, until 31 August 1998 at the latest, by means of express authorizations and subject to suitable controls, permit that a quality sparkling wine psr on a list determined in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 83 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, be obtained by adding to the basic product from which the wine is made one or more wine-sector products which do not originate in the specified region whose name the wine bears, provided that:`.

2. Article 17 (2) is replaced by:

'2. The duration of the fermentation process designed to make the cuvée sparkling and the duration of the presence of the cuvée on the lees shall not be less than 90 days.`

3. Article 17 (3) is deleted.

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 231, 13. 8. 1992, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 148, 30. 6. 1995, p. 15.