WRITTEN QUESTION E-2051/00 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Labelling of wine, spirits, and other alcohol products.
Date: 2000-06-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: alcoholic beverage, consumer information, food additive, labelling, product quality, wine

C 81 E/132

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.3.2001

(2001/C 81 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2040/00

by Gorka Kn(cid:246)rr Borr(cid:224)s (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 June 2000)

Subject: Structural Funds

Can the Commission indicate how many million euro are to be received in aid from the Structural Funds
by the Spanish regions of Andalusia, Galicia, Navarre, the Basque Country and Catalonia over the period
2000-2006? Can the Commission also provide a breakdown of these funds between, on the one hand, the
ERDF, the ESF, the EAGGF and the FIFG and, on the other, the Community initiatives Leader+, Interreg,
URBAN and EQUAL?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(14 July 2000)

It is impossible at the moment to estimate precisely the amount and breakdown of Structural Fund aid to
the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Galicia, Navarre, the Basque Country and Catalonia over the
2000-2006 programming period. Negotiations on aid under Objectives 1 and 2 are still in progress with
the Spanish authorities.

For Objectives 1 and 2 the Commission sent each Member State a proposed breakdown of available
appropriations between the regions covered, drawn up using the same method for all Member States.
Copies of
to the Honourable Member and Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

for Spain will be sent direct

the proposal

The proposal is however merely tentative and without prejudice to the establishment of multiregional
thematic programmes for Objective 1. The actual breakdown will be agreed between Spain and the
Commission on adoption of the Community support frameworks and single programming documents.

It is too early to say what amounts will be allocated to these regions under the Community Initiatives
Interreg, Urban, Equal and Leader.

On European Social Fund aid for Objective 3, negotiations are in progress with the Spanish authorities.
The total Objective 3 amount allocated to Spain is € 2,14 billion (1999 prices), 38,07 % of which is
regionally managed aid and 61,93 % centrally managed. The regional and multiregional breakdown of this
amount, again merely tentative, will be sent direct to the Honourable Member and Parliament(cid:146)s Secretariat.

(2001/C 81 E/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2051/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

Subject: Labelling of wine, spirits, and other alcohol products

(27 June 2000)

Would the Commission please state why there is no requirement to label the contents, including additives,
of wine, spirits and other alcohol for consumption in contrast to the situation for foodstuffs?

Would the Commission also state whether it has any plans to improve the amount of information
available on labels on alcohol for consumption so that consumers may better judge the contents of the
product that they are drinking?

13.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 81 E/133

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(15 September 2000)

In its original version, Article 6(3) of Directive 79/112/EEC (1) stipulated:
(cid:145)In the case of beverages
containing more than 1,2 % by volume of alcohol,
from the
Commission, shall, before the expiry of a period of four years following notification of this Directive,
determine the rules for labelling ingredients and, possibly, indicating the alcoholic strength.(cid:146)

the Council, acting on a proposal

The reason for this lies in the particular nature of these products, which makes it impossible to apply to
them the provisions as set out in the Directive regarding the listing of ingredients in foodstuffs in general.

The Commission consequently submitted to the Council, in October 1982, an initial proposal requiring
the labelling of alcoholic beverages to indicate the alcoholic strength and the list of ingredients. The part of
the proposal relating to the listing of ingredients failed to obtain approval. It was resurrected in a new
proposal submitted to the Council in April 1992, but once again failed to obtain a qualified majority.

A new proposal was therefore submitted by the Commission to Parliament and the Council in February
1997 (2). In the wake of Parliament(cid:146)s examination of this proposal at first reading in February 1999, the
Commission submitted an amended proposal to the Council in July 1999 (3).

The Council has not yet examined this latest proposal. The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)s
view that consumers should be more amply informed about the ingredients in alcoholic beverages.

Nevertheless, bearing in mind the difficulties of achieving harmonisation in this area, Member States may,
while adhering to the rules of the EC Treaty, adopt national measures requiring ingredients to be listed for
certain alcoholic beverages which are not subject to specific Community labelling legislation.

(1) Council Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs for sale to the ultimate consumer (OJ L 33,
8.2.1979), Directive codified by Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March
2000 (OJ L 109, 6.5.2000).

(2) OJ C 106, 4.4.1997.
(3) COM(1999) 339 final.

(2001/C 81 E/161)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2052/00

by Jeffrey Titford (EDD) to the Council

(27 June 2000)

Subject: Banning of political parties

My attention has been drawn to the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Article 17 is headed
(cid:145)Freedom of Assembly and Association(cid:146), and speaks of (cid:145)the right to peaceful assembly, including the right
to form and to join trade unions or political parties(cid:146).

My Party supports all of that Article, believing that in any society there must be the strongest possible
guarantees of the right to peaceful assembly, the right to form and join trade unions, and the right to form
political parties.

Yet the European Parliament recently approved proposals to be discussed at the Inter-governmental
Conference later this year, to take powers to ban political parties, like J(cid:246)rg Haider(cid:146)s Freedom Party in
Austria. Please inform me how the European Union can consider banning any political party when to do
so would be a fundamental breach of the proposed Article 17 of the proposed European Charter?

Will the Council of Ministers now drop any proposals to ban political parties in the European Union?