Commission Regulation (EC) No 2486/98 of 18 November 1998 introducing preventive distillation as provided for in Article 38 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 for the 1998/99 wine year
Date: 1998-11-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU production, distillation, exchange of information, harvest, storage, table wine

L 309/18

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Official Journal of the European Communities

19. 11. 98

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2486/98

of 18 November 1998

introducing preventive distillation as provided for in Article 38 of Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 822/87 for the 1998/99 wine year

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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 organisation of
the
market in wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1627/98 (2), and in particular Article 38(5) thereof,

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2721/88 (3),
as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2181/91 (4), lays
down detailed rules for voluntary distillation as provided
for in Articles 38, 41 and 42 of Regulation (EEC) No
822/87; whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1648/
98 (5) fixes the prices, the aid and certain other factors
applicable to preventive distillation for the 1998/99 wine
year;

Whereas, in view of the level of end-of-year stocks, the
harvest forecasts and the difficulties on certain markets, it
is necessary to provide rapidly for preventive distillation;
whereas the data on supplies are however still incomplete;
whereas,
therefore, preventive distillation should be
opened and an overall volume should be fixed for the
Community and broken down by production region,
without however precluding the possibility of adapting
these volumes once the full data on supplies are known;
whereas the overall volume should be fixed at 8 000 000
hectolitres of table wine; whereas the economic situation
of wines may vary in the different production areas of a
Member State; whereas, therefore, the authorities of the
Member States should be allowed to allocate different
quantities to different production areas; whereas, in order
to prevent discrimination between producers,
the
Commission should be informed as to how this allocation
is justified by the particular conditions on the wine
market in the different production areas and must be able
to comment on such allocations;

the Spanish wine-growing zone C should be set so as to
give comparable results in terms of a percentage of
production for the entire Community; whereas, consid-
ering that there is no data on supplies of table wine in
Austria, a specific regime should be set for that country;

Whereas, with a view to applying this Regulation, it is
necessary to know the areas cultivated for production in
order to determine the quantity which producers may
have distilled; whereas a large number of Greek producers
do not have the necessary data owing to the administra-
tion’s delay in introducing the planned administrative
structures; whereas, so that the abovementioned producers
are not prevented from qualifying under the measure,
provision should be made for the reference areas to be
determined on the basis of a flat-rate yield for Greece as a
whole;

in order

to increase the efficiency of

Whereas,
this
measure, application should be extended to a period long
enough to take account of the time required to make
wine in certain regions, and contracts or declarations
should be approved rapidly up to a certain level to enable
growers and distillers who so wish to start deliveries and
distillation as
proper
performance of the contracts and declarations signed by
the producers should also be ensured by means of a
security which will guarantee delivery of wine to a distil-
lery;

possible; whereas

early

as

Whereas Member States should be required promptly to
communicate to the Commission the quantities for which
contracts have been signed so that the Commission may
set a single acceptance rate for contracts or declarations
submitted if the overall quantity applied for throughout
the Community
the 8 000 000 hectolitres
provided for;

exceeds

Whereas, given the low yields obtained in Spanish and
Portuguese wine-growing areas, a different volume for
products obtained from grapes harvested in Portugal and
a maximum percentage for the production which can be
distilled from products obtained from grapes harvested in

Whereas, with a view to the sound management of the
quantities in question, it is necessary to derogate from
specific provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 2721/88 and
to provide that the quantities applied for in the contracts
and declarations may be reduced;

(1) OJ L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 186, 16. 7. 1998, p. 9.
(3) OJ L 241, 1. 9. 1988, p. 88.
(4) OJ L 202, 25. 7. 1991, p. 16.
(5) OJ L 210, 28. 7. 1998, p. 63.

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
in accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Wine,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
Preventive distillation of table wine and of wine suit-
able for yielding table wine as provided for in Article 38
of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 is hereby introduced for
the 1998/99 wine year. Distillation shall be restricted to
8 000 000 hectolitres.

This quantity shall be broken down by production region
as referred to in Article 4 of Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 441/88 (1) as follows:

– Region 1 (Germany):

– Region 3 (France):

– Region 4 (Italy):

– Region 5 (Greece):

– Region 6 (Spain):

– Region 7 (Portugal):

– Austria:

70 000 hl

1 000 000 hl

4 000 000 hl

200 000 hl

2 700 000 hl

–

30 000 hl.

this Regulation,

The Member States may allocate the reserved quantity
among the different production areas in their territory,
without excluding any specific areas from application of
the measure. Within one month following the entry into
force of
forward to the
Commission the list of production regions and the
quantity allocated to each, explaining the specific produc-
this breakdown. The
tion conditions which warrant
Commission shall, where necessary, make comments on
the breakdown and inform the Member State concerned
thereof within two weeks.

they shall

The quantity of table wine or of wine suitable for yielding
table wine which producers may have distilled in accord-
ance with Regulation (EEC) No 2721/88 shall be limited
to 25 hectolitres per hectare.

However, for products obtained from grapes harvested in
Portugal, this quantity shall be limited to 21 hectolitres
for products obtained from grapes
per hectare and,
this
harvested in the Spanish wine-growing zone C,
quantity shall be limited to 40 % of
the table wine
produced from these products by each producer.

Notwithstanding Article 2(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
2721/88, the quantity of table wine or wine suitable for
yielding table wine obtained from grapes harvested in
Austria that producers may have distilled shall be limited
solely to a percentage of their production of table wine.
This percentage is fixed at 15 %.

tion presented pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1294/96 (2) where so required.

2.
The area to be used when calculating the quantity of
table wine or wine suitable for yielding table wine which
Greek producers may have distilled shall be obtained by
dividing by 57 the quantity given as wine in the table
wine column of the production declaration, presented
pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1294/96.

3. Notwithstanding Article 6(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
2721/88, producers who have produced table wine or
wine suitable for yielding table wine may submit, not later
than 15 January 1999, one or more preventive distillation
contracts or declarations to the competent authorities of
the Member State, giving the details specified in Article
6(2) of that Regulation.

Contracts and declarations must be accompanied by proof
that a security equal to ECU 5 per hectolitre has been
lodged.

for a quantity not exceeding half of

4. Notwithstanding Article 6(3) and (4) of Regulation
(EEC) No 2721/88, the Member States may authorise the
approval of contracts or declarations as soon as they are
submitted,
the
quantity specified in each contract or declaration, without
prejudice to the application of Article 2(2) of that Regula-
tion. For the purposes of applying Article 8 of Regulation
(EEC) No 2046/89 and Article 9(2) of Regulation (EEC)
No 2721/88, the partial approval of contracts or declara-
tions referred to above and partial approval as referred to
in Article 1(6) of this Regulation shall be treated as sepa-
rate contracts and declarations.

The Member States shall inform the Commission of
5.
the total volume covered by preventive distillation
contracts or declarations not later than 29 January 1999.

If the overall volume covered by contracts or declarations
submitted exceeds 8 000 000 hl and/or the volume estab-
lished in advance for one or more regions, the Commis-
sion shall fix the single acceptance rate to be applied to
all contracts and declarations for each region and shall
notify each Member State thereof by fax not later than 5
February 1999. In order to ensure that maximum use is
made of the overall volume of 8 000 000 hl in the event
that the overall volume is exceeded while all or part of the
volume allocated to one or more specific regions remains
unused, the Commission shall distribute the remaining
available volume for that region or those regions among
the other regions before fixing the single acceptance rate
for each region, using the following method:

The quantity of
table wine produced to which the
percentages referred to in the preceding fifth and sixth
subparagraphs apply shall be,
that
resulting from the sum of the quantities appearing as
wine in the table wine column of the production declara-

for each producer,

– if available, an initial instalment of not more than
to each region which has

25 000 hl, as needed,
exceeded its volume, and

– the remainder in proportion to the quantities fixed in

the second subparagraph of paragraph 1.

(1) OJ L 45, 18. 2. 1988, p. 15.

(2) OJ L 166, 5. 7. 1996, p. 14.

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6. Notwithstanding Article 6(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
2721/88, Member States shall
take the administrative
measures necessary to approve the above contracts and
declarations with the single acceptance rate not later than
28 February 1999, for the quantities not yet approved
when the contracts or declarations were submitted.

Securities shall be released for quantities applied for and
not accepted.

7. Quantities covered by contracts and declarations
must be delivered to the distillery by 30 June 1999.

If no deliveries have taken place within the time limit,
the security shall be forfeited.

9. Member States may restrict the number of contracts
or declarations a producer may sign for the distillation
operation concerned.

Article 2

8.
The security shall be released for the quantities
delivered when the producer presents proof of delivery to
a distillery.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third 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.

Done at Brussels, 18 November 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission