ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(74)1871
Vol.1974/0296

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(74)1871 final
Brussels ,19November 1974
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
ontheharmonization ofthelawsoftheMemberStates
concerning aleoholometers andhydrometers foralcoholandalcoholtables
(submitted totheCouncilbytheCommission )
COK(74)1871final

EXPLANATORY MEFORAHDOI !
This directive hasbeen drafted pursuant toArticle 100oftheTreaty -
establishing theEuropean Economic Community .Itcomes within the
ambit ofthe removal oftechnical barriers totrade and istoberead
closely with theCouncil Directive of26July 1971 on "theapproximation
ofthelaws oftheMember States relating tocommon provisions forboth
measuring instruments andmethods ofmetrological control .
Theaimofthedirective istheharmonization ofprovisions laid down by
law ,regulation oradministrative action concerning thedefinition of
theproportion ofalcohol inmixtures ofwater andalcohol andthe
design andprocedures fortheapproval andtesting ofalcoholometers
andhydrometers foralcohol which areused tomeasure these proportions .
Although oneresult ofthis directive will bethefree movement ofsuch
measuring instruments ,there isnotsufficient trade inthem tojustify ,
either thepreparation ofadirective orthepriority which theCouncil
initsresolution onindustrial policy of19December 1973 fasked the
Commission toobserve inforwarding thecorresponding proposal .The
main benefit which will come from theadoption ofthis directive isthat
itshould serve toeliminate anydisagreements arising intrade in
alcohol ,wines ,spirits ,etc.,asregards thedetermination ofthe
proportion ofalcohol inthese mixtures .
This iswhy ,even without theurgent demands made byseveral Member
States ,thepreparation ofsuch adirective was sokeenly desired by
thecompetent departments oftheCommission ,theDirectorate -Genera -1
forAgriculture andtheDirectorate-General forFinancial Institutions
and Taxation .

-2-
Axpresent ,regulations mthisfielddifferfromonecountrytoanother.
EvenwithintheCcrxmnity thealooholometric tablesusedarebasedon
measurements performed "byvariousauthors andonequallyvarying ways
ofutilizing thesemeasurements ;thiscausesacertain amountof
confusion andisclearlyliabletogiverisetodisputes .TheFrench
tables,forexample,refertoGay--Lussac measurements (1324)eventhough
arevisedversionhasbeenoperative since1834-
InCermany,the"Reichsanstalt furMasseundGewichte "workedoutatable
basedontheworkandmeasurements ofMendeleeff (yetthisdoesnotaccord
withtheSoviettables,whichwerealsobasedontheworkofMendeleeff ).
TheAlcoholMonopoly Department cftheFederal GermanRepublic hasdrawn
uppractical tablesbasedonthetableusedbythe"Reichsanstalt fur
MasseundGewichte",butitalsousesatablebasedontheworkof0.
Reichard .Moreover ,theGermanspiritsindustry usesavolumetric
concentration tablebasedontheworkofTralles andadaptedbythe
"Reichsanstalt furMasseundGewichte".
IntheUnitedKingdom,Sikesalcoholometers arenormally used;these
differquiteconsiderably indesignandusefromtheglassalcoholometers
usedinothercountries .
Furthermore ,manytablesdifferastothereference temperature adopted ,
i.e.,15°C~15.556°^-17°5°C-20°C,andalsointherangeoftemperature
covered .
Confusion hasbeenjustaswidespread outsidetheCommunity ,andhence
itisthattheInternational Organization ofLegalMetrolog;'-(ZOLM)was
giventhetaskofstandardizing themethodofmeasuring theproportion
ofalcohol.Itwastheresultofthiswork(-•jhichculminated in1973
asregardsadefinition ofalcoholproportion ,althoughstillawaiting
official approval bytheIOLMandisalmostcomplete asfarasinstruments
areconcerned )whichservedasthebasisforthepreparation ofthis
proposal foradirective .
The expertsconvened bytheCommission asaivorkingpartyrrere
unanimous inconsidering theworkbasisselected bytheCommission tobe
thebestone.Theyalsoexpressed unanimous agreement onvirtually the
wholeoftheproposedtext,whichwasalignedasfaraspossible onthe
relevant IOLKrecommendations .

3
Onlyafewminortechnical pointswerenotapproved bythevantmajority
cfexpert3present.Itwasimpossible ,Lo::evcr,forthetextsofthe
IOLtlrecommendations andtheCouncildirective -to"beidentical :the
entiresectiondealingwiththeuseofalcoholometers andhydrometers
foralcoholinthelaboratory andcorresponding intheIOLMtexttothe
waytheinstruments areusedhadnoplaceintheCommunity directive
onthefreemovement ofsuchappliances .Ontheotherhand,everything
todowithinstrument markingtoallowthemfreemovement acrossfrontiers
couldobviously beincludedintheCommunity directive only.Apartfrom
thesefewpoints,generallayoutandminordetails,thetextofthe
technical annextothedirective isidentical tothetextoftheIOIM
recommendations .
Thisiswhytheadoption ofthisdirective ,whilstcreatingtheminimum
ofordernecessary withintheCommunity topermitfreemovement of
alcoholic liquidsforthegreaterbenefitofconsumers withnofurther
confusion ordisputes astoalcoholic content ^willnotbeaprotectionist
measuresinceitcomplies withdecisions takeninthewidestinternational
context.Itismoreorlesscertainthat,soonerorlater,theMember
Statesconcerned willadoptsimilarregulations anditwouldbedesirable
fortheCommunity ,whichiscloselyaffected "pyboththeintra-andextras-'
Community tradeinalcohol-based products ,tobeintheforefront as
regardsofficially following theinternational recommendations inthis
field.
Consultation withtheEuropean Parliament andtheEconomic andSocial
Committee
Inaccordance withtheprovisions ofthesecondparagraph ofArticle100,
theopinions ofthesetwoauthorities areneeded.
Implementation oftherequirements ofthedirective willmeanthatsome
MemberStateswillhavetoamendtheirlegislation .

PROPOSAL FORACOUNCIL DIKE01T75
ontheharmonization ofthelavsoftheI'emberStatesconcerning
alcoholometers andhydrometers foralcoholandalcoholtables
i'lnCOUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
andinparticular Article100thereof;
Havingregardtotheproposal fromtheCommission ;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropean Parliament ;
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEconomic andSocialCommittee ;
WhereasinseveralMemberStatestherearelawseoncsmiits thedetermination ofthe
alcoholiostrengthofamixtureofwatera^dalcohol ?andKhOTsastheselr.Tfs
differfromoneMemberStatetoanotherthuscreatingobstacles totrade;
whereas,accordingly thereisaneedforharmonization atCommunity level
inthisfieldandtheestablirjhnentofacommondefinition ;
Whereasthedefinition ,designandprocedures fortheapproval andtesting
ofalcoholometers andhydrometers foralcoholarethesubjectofmandatory
provisions whichvaryfromStatetoStateandthusimpedethemovement of
andtradeintheseinstruments withintheCommunity ,andwhereas,
theseprovisions shouldtherefore beapproximated *
Whereasharmonization oftheprovisions laiddo™bylaw,regulation or
administrative actionconcerning theseinstruments isalsoessential to
complement thatrelatingtoacommonmethodfordetermining theproportion
ofalcoholonthebasisofmeasurements taken,inordertoremoveany
ambiguity orriskofdisputeovertheresultofsuchmeasurements ;

2
»
WhereastheCouncilDirective of26July1971ontheapproximation of
thelawsoftheMemberStatesconcerning commonprovisions onmeasuring
instruments andonmethodsofapproval andtesting haslaiddownEEC
patternapproval andinitialtestingprocedures ;whereas,±-%iBneoessary inorderto
ooaplywiththatDirective t,olpydotminr&rroeVv orfalcoholometers p.nd
hydrometers foralcoholtechnical requirements inrespectofdesignand
operation towhichtheseinstruments saistconforminorderthatthey
maybefreelyimported ,marketed andusedafterbeingtestedandprovided
withthepresori"!>ed np^.'sandsigns;
Whereastheabovementioned Directive alsoprovidesthat,whenconditions
sopermit relerwart specifj.cDirective rxxfrspecifythecLit®"a?whicheachMerfbe?
Stateshallrepealthenational provisions applying toinstruments
similartothosewhichcomplywiththeCommunity provisions ,andwhereas
int\enT-ssseFj'fc no't:iy°^possibletofixthisdate;
HASADOPTED THISDIRECTIVE :
Article 1
ThepurposeofthisDirective is*
(a)todefinethemethodofexpressing theproportion ofethylalcohol
(ethanol)presentinamixtureofwaterandalcoholandthe
measurements tobecarriedoutforitsdetermination ,andto
giveaformulatoenabletablestobedrawnupforcalculating this
proportion^ "testisof-themeasurements carriedout;
(b^oiaydownspecifications concerning alcoholometers andhydrometers
foralcohol usedtodetermine theproportion ofalcohol
inmixtures ofwaterandethanol .
OJIToL202,6September 1971

Article 2
Theproportion ofalcoholinamixtureofwaterandalcoholshall "becalculated
frommeasurements carriedoutwithEECalcoholometers orhydrometers for
alcohol andusingalcoholomatric tablesdrawnuponthe"basisofthe
f>rraulashowninAnnexIhsrato.
Article 3
Thealcoholometers andhydrometers foralcoholwhichmaybeaccorded EEC
marksandsignsaredescribed inAnnexIXhereto.
Snohineimments tàailsubjoott-oHOCpatisMi -appr»ffralaadehalltoidergo EEC
ini.trialvilificati on.
Article 4
NoMemberStatemayprevent,prohibitorrestrictthesaleortheuseof
anyalcoholometer orhydrometer foralcoholbearing EECmarksandsigns.
Article 5
1.MemberStatesshallputintoforcetheprovisions laiddownbylaw,
regulation andadministrative actionwhicharenecessary tocomplywith
thisDirective withineighteen monthsofitsnotification andshall
forthwith informtheCommission thereof .
2.MemberStatesshallensurethattheCommission isinformed ofthetexts
ofthemainprovisions ofnational lawwhichtheyadoptinthefieldcovered
bythisDirective .
Article 6
ThisDirective isaddressed totheMemberStates.

AHNEXI
ALCOHOL PROPORTION
1.lEFIFITIOIT
■1 I■■■mI
ihs"proportion ofalcohol "byvolume"inamixtureofwaterandalcohol
istheratioofthevolumeofalcoholpresentinthemixtureat20°Cto
thetotalvolumeofthemixtureatthesametemperature .
The"proportion ofalcoholbymass"inamixtureofwaterandalcoholis
theratioofthemassofalcoholpresentinthismixturetothetotal
massofthemixture .
2*EXPRESSION OFTEEPROPORTION OFALCOHOLperhundredpartsofthe
mixture .
Thesymbolsare:
"%vol"fortheproportion ofalcohol "byvolume,
"/omass"fortheproportion ofalcoholbymass.
3.DETERMINAT310N0?THEPR0P0RTI0N 0?ALC0H0L
Theprocedures tobecarriedouttodetermine theproportion ofalcohol
are:
-thereadingofanalcoholometer orhydrometer foralcohol,orthe
weighing ofapycnometer ,atthetemperature ofthemixture;
-themeasurement ofthetemperature ofthemirrfcure.
Theresults areobtained fromtheinternational alcoholtables.
4«FORITULAforthecalculation ofALCOHOL TABLESformixtures ofethyl
alcohol andwater.
Thedensity expressedinkilogramspercubicmetre(kg/m^)fofa
mixtureofethylalcoholandwateratatemperature t,expressed indegrees
Celsius ,isgivenbythefollowing formulaasafunctionof:
*-theproportion bymassp,expressed asadecimalnumber
-thetemperature t,expressedindegreesCelsius(lPTS-68),
thenumerical coefficients givenbelow
Theformulaisvalidfortemperatures intherange–20°Cto+40°C
*Example :foraproportion bymassof12$J,p=0.12

AnnexI
*
12 6
+:ΣΑ."ν-\+ΣΒ.('-μο"– k. • k
'.k=2 k-1
n mi .
'+'E\EC.,"kc-20
. . . .
–··'. η=5
' "•. -,mi=■n
•: 1«J=_10
'mj-9
•'■• 1..'.^m«–4
■ . Dis–2

AnnexI-p«3
QArfCT^rr(,;T^-T»r«?*TTTfjnT
k.\AY■
kg/m1
19,982012300·10*
2–1,929769495•10
3 ■3,891238953·10ι
•4·–1,668103923·10'
51,352215441·ΙΟ4
6–8,829278385-104.
73,062874042·10$
•8–6,138381234ΊΟ5
97,470172998•105
10–5,478461354•10*
U2,234460334■105
12–3.903285426•104
G,Bk
^l,k
r-.kg/(m5•°C)c?
11,693443461530087-10"1
2–1,046914743455169-10'
37,196353469546523•101
4_7,047478054272792•10*
53,924090430035045•10'
6–1,210164.659068747-10
72,248646550400788/104
8•–2,605562982188164•104
9,,1,852373.922069467-IO4
10–7,420201433430137*10'
11'1,285617841998974•10J
yyQ,
kg/(ms•°C5)
1–6,802995733503803•10"4
21,876837790289664•10'2
3–2,002561813734156-10"'
41,022992966719220
5•–2,895696483903638'
64,810060584300675
7–4,672147440794683
'82,458043105903461
9–5,411227621436812-10-'■2,0618513
•5,2682542
3,6130013
■3,8957702
7,1693540
-9,973923110-'kg/(m'•°C)
■10-Jkg/(mJ•°CS)
•10"Jkg/(mJ-"CJ)
■10"'kg/Cm1-°C4)
•10-'kg/(mJ-°C5)
•10-"kg/(mJ-"C4)
c,k
kg/Cm'-0^)
1,193013005057010•10"1
2,517399633803461•10M
•2,170575700536993
1,353034988843029■10'
■5,029988758547014-10'
1,096355666577570-10*
•1,422753946421155*101
1,080435942856230*10J
■4,414153236817392-101
7,442971530188783
G
io-4
10'2
io-'^4,k
kg/(m}">C4)
4,075376675622027·10"*
■8,763058573471110Ί0··
6,515031360099368·10"·
•1,515784836987210-ΙΟ"4C,,'
kg/Cm1-°CS)
2,788074354782409*30""
1,345612883493354·10"»

ΑχΤΓΙΠΧ II
ALCOHOLOMETERS AI'TD HTDRQH5TERS FOR ALCOHOL
1• IEFDTTTTOIT OFTHE riSTRUI-IETTTS
1.1 Alcoholometers areinstruments made ofglass which indicate ,asa
percentage :
(a)theproportion ofalcohol "bymass (fomass )
(b)theproportion ofalcohol "byvolume (fovol)
According towhich entity they measure ,they aredesignated asmass
alcoholometers orasvolume alcoholometers .
Hydrometers foralcohol areglass instruments designed tomeasure
density inkilograms percubic metre ,ofamixture ofwater and
alcohol .
1.2 Theinstruments referred tointhis Directive aregraduated atthe
standard temperature of20°C andinaccordance with thevalues which
appear intheinternational alcohol tables published bythe
International Organization ofLegal Metrology .
1.3 They aregraduated forreadings made atthefree horizontal surface
ofthe liquid .
2. rSSCEIPTTOlT OFTHE JÎBTHUI^'TTS
2.1 Alcoholometers andhydrometers foralcohol areglass instruments ,
each consisting of:
acylindrical body ,thebottom ofwhich iscone-shaped orhemispherical
sothat itdoes notentrap airbubbles ,
ahollow cylindrical stem fused totheupper part ofthebody t
ii,supper end isclosed .
2.2 Theexternal surface ofeach instrument shall besymmetrical about
its main axis .
Thecross Eection shall notexhibit anyabrupt alteration .
2.3 Thelower part ofthebody contains theloading material ,whose
purpose istoadjust themass ofthehydrometer .
2.4 Thestem carries ascale marked onacylindrical support which is
rigidly fixed totheinside ofthestem .

~2-
i
i ^
3.FRINCIPLES OPCONSTRUCTION
3.1Theglassusedformakingtheinstruments shallbetransparent and
freefromanydefectliabletointerfere withthereadingof
-measurements fromthescale. '■
Theglassshallhaveacoefficient ofcubicexpansion of(25<~2)
lOT^C"1.
3.2Theloadingmaterialshallbeconfinedwithinthelowerpartoftho
body.
Iftheloadingmaterialissolid,itshallnotsoftenwhenits
temperature israisedto80°C.
Thereshallbenoloosematerial whatsoever inanyotherpartofthe
instrument .
3.3Theinstrument shallfloatwithitsaxisclosetothevertical .The
maximumpermitted anglebetweentheaxisandtheverticalis1.5
degreesofarc.
4.SCALE
4.1Koinstrument shallhavemorethanonescale.
4.2Thescaleandtheinscriptions shallbemarkedonasupportwhich
shallhaveasmoothmattsurface.
Thissupportshallbeheldrigidlyinplaceinthestomandreference
marksshallbeprovided sothatanydisplacement ofthescaleandits
supportrelativetothestemisapparent .
Neitherthesupport,thescalenortheinscriptions shallshowany
traceofdistortion ,discoloration orcharring whenmaintained at
70°Cfor24hours.
4.3Thegraduation marksshallbe:
situatedinplanesperpendicular totheaxisoftheinstrument ,
*
blackandmarkedclearlyandindelibly ,
:fine,clear-cut andofauniformthickness notgreaterthan0.2mm.
4«4Theshortgraduation linesshallextendtoatleastonefifthofthe
circumference ofthestem,andthemediumlinestoatleastonethird
andthelonglinestoatleastonehalfofthecircumference .
N.B.Beyondtherangeofthenominalscalethograduations maybeofa
different colour

3
4-5 Thenominal scales ofindividual alcoholometers shall cover arange
notgreater than 10$ofalcohol (bymass or "byvolume ).
Thescales shall bemarked insteps of0.1$ .
Each scale shall include 5-10additional graduations "beyond its
upper and lower nominal limits .
4.6 Thenominal scales ofhydrometers foralcohol shall cover arange not
greater than20kg/m^.Thescales shall bemarked instops of
0.2kg/m^.
Each scale shall include 5-10 additional graduations beyond the
noninal limits ofthescale .However ,prolongation ofthescale
beyond 1000kg/m"'isnotobligatory .
5.GRAHUATIOIT AM )M3MEERIUG
5.1 Onalcoholometers ,every tenth line counting from oneofthenominal
limits ofthescale ,isalong line .There isamedium line between
each successive pair oflong lines andfour short lines between each
long line andthenearest medium line .
Only thelong lines arenumbered .
5.2 Onhydrometers foralcohol ,every fifth line counting from oneofthe
nominal limits ofthescale isalong line .There arefour short
lines between twoconsecutive long lines .
Thefifth andtenth long lines arenumbered .
5.3 Thegraduations corresponding tothenominal limits ofthescale
shall benumbered infull .Onhydrometers foralcohol the
intermediate numbers maybeabbreviated .
6•CLASSIFICATION AEDPRINCIPAL DIMEK5 IOIIS OFIR3TRI3I15ITT3
6.1 Theinstruments aredivided into twoprecision classes asfollows :
Class 1:Theminimum mean length ofascale division sliall be
1.5 Instruments ofthis class shall nothave a
thermometer built in.
Class 2:Theminimum mean length ofa.scale division shall be
1.05 mm.Instruments ofthis class mayhave abuilt -
inthermometer .6.
6.1

-4
J •
6.2 Theexternal diameter ofthetody ofanyinstrument shall beatleast
19mmandnotgreater than 40mm.
Theexternal diameter ofthe stem shall "beatleast 3mmforClass 1
instruments and atleast 2.5 nimforClass 2instruments .Thestem
shall extend foratleast 15mmabove theuppermost graduation ofthe
scale . .Thecross-section ofthestem must remain unchanged forat
least 5mm "below thelowest graduation ofthescale .
7. IÎI5CRIPTI0E3
7.1 Thefollowing inscriptions shall "belegibly andindelibly marked
inside the instrument :
Class 1or2
kg/ra^orfovolor%mass
20°C
ethanol
the iiame ormark ofthe manufacturer
the identification number ofthe instrument .
7.2 Themass oftheinstrument ,expressed inmilligrams may ,ifdesired ,
bemarked onthebody .
8.KAXfllPM PERMISSIBLE ERRORS AM )VERIFICATION
8.1 -Themaximum permissible error foralcoholometers andhydrometers for
alcohol shall be:
+forClass 1instruments ,~onehalf scale division foreach point
tested .
+forClass 2instruments ,~onescale division ateach point tested .
8.2 Thescale shall beverified atnotless than three points along its
nominal length .
9.TEEIKCMETSRS
9.1 Iftheinstrument being used tomeasure theproportion ofalcohol
belongs toClass 1.,thethermometer used shall be
ofthemetallic resistance orthemercury-expansion type with glass
casing ,
graduated to0,1or0.05°C .

–5~r
Themaximum permissible error is+0*05°C atallpoints onthe scale .
Mercury thermometers shall include agraduation at0°C .
9*2 .Iftheinstrument being used tomeasure theproportion ofalcohol belongs
toClass 2,thethermometer shall be :
ofthcsmercury-expansion type ,with aglass casing andascale including
agraduation at0°C ,
graduated to0.1or0.2°0 .
Themaximum permissible error ,plus orminus ,shall be s
0.1°C ifthethermometer isgraduated to0.1°G ,
0.15°C ifthethermometer isgraduated to0.2CC.
Thethermometer maybeincorporated intheinstrument used tomeasure the
proportion ofalcohol .
10.MAKKIïïC-S
Ontheback ofalcoholometers andhydrometers foralcohol aspace must be
left intheupper third ofthebody for theEEC initial verification mark .
Pursuant toSection 3.1.1 .ofAnnex IItothe Council Directive of
26July 1971 ontheapproximation oflaws oftheMember States relating
tocommon provisions forboth measuring instruments andmethods of
metrological control ,(7l/3l6/EEC)andbywayofderogation from thegeneral
rule laid down inSection 3ofthesame Annex ,theinitial verification
mark ,because ofmandatory provisions formarking glass instruments ,must
consist ofaseries ofsigns having thefollowing meaning s
-asmall letter "e";
-thelast twodigita oftheyear ofverification ;
-theidentifying letter orletters oftheState where theinitial verification
wascarried outj
-ifnecessary ,theidentifying number oftheverification office .
When themarking isdone bysandblasting ,theletters andnumbers shall be
applied soasnot toimpair their legibility .
Brample :e75D48 :initial verification carried outin1975 Bureau 48
inWe3t Germany .