Commission Regulation (EC) No 2409/2000 of 30 October 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms
Date: 2000-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: application of EU law, common organisation of markets, distillation, vinification, viticulture

31.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 278/3

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2409/2000

of 30 October 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council
Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to
market mechanisms

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in
wine (1), and in particular Article 33 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Article 2(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/
2000 (2) lays down that operators subject to compulsory
distillation measures may only benefit from the meas-
ures provided for in that Regulation if they have fulfilled
their obligations. Those provisions should be supple-
mented for the 2000/01 wine year with a reference to
the same compulsory distillation measures to be carried
out during the previous wine year under Council Regula-
tion (EEC) No 822/87 (3), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1677/1999 (4).

Article 55(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 allows
France to vary the buying-in price for wine under the
distillation measure provided for in Article 28 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1493/1999. In order to cancel out the
economic impact of this on distillers, an equal adjust-
ment should be made to distillation aid. Such a provi-
sion should therefore be inserted in the Articles fixing
the level of aid.

A tolerance should be laid down for the volumes deliv-
ered for compulsory distillation under Articles 27 and
28 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999. In Regulation (EC)
No 1623/2000, a tolerance is laid down only in Article
48 for the distillation of by-products of wine-making.
That same provision should be inserted in Article 56 for
the distillation of wine from dual-purpose grapes.

Article 57 of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 lays down
special rules for the product of direct distillation of
wines obtained from grapes of varieties classified for the
same administrative unit as both wine-grape varieties
and varieties intended for the production of wine spirits.
The purpose of those rules is to prevent the production

(1) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 194, 31.7.2000, p. 45.
(3) OJ L 84, 27.3.1987, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999, p. 8.

of spirits from wine subject to a compulsory or volun-
tary distillation measure. The provision was inserted by
error in Section II of Chapter I, which refers only to one
compulsory distillation measure. The Article concerned
should therefore be moved to Chapter III on common
provisions applicable to distillation measures.

The deadline laid down in Article 63(5) of Regulation
(EC) No 1623/2000 for Member States to notify the
total volume of contracts approved for distillation under
Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 is too
short and cannot always be met. That deadline should
therefore be changed.

It is no longer compulsory to indicate the actual alco-
holic strength in contracts for delivery for distillation.
However, Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000
should lay down a tolerance for that alcoholic strength
where Member States lay down that it must be indicated.

These amendments must apply from the date of entry
into force of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000.

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

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 2(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘For the 2000/01 wine year, the obligations referred to in
the first subparagraph shall be those laid down in Articles
35 and 36 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87.’

2. In Article 56, the following subparagraphs are added:

‘Where the buying-in price is varied as provided for in
Article 55(2), the aid referred to in the first subparagraph
shall be varied in the same manner.

No aid shall be due for quantities of wine delivered for
distillation exceeding the producer's obligation as provided
for in Article 52 of this Regulation by more than 2 %.’

L 278/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31.10.2000

3. Article 57 is deleted.

4. In Article 63(5),

the final sentence is replaced by the

following:

‘Member States shall notify the Commission of the total
volume of contracts approved at the time of the first noti-
fication in accordance with paragraph 4 following that
approval.’

5. In Article 65(10), the following subparagraph is added:

‘Where the actual alcoholic strength by volume is indicated
in the contract, a discrepancy of 1 % vol shall be permitted
between the strength indicated and that determined when
the check is carried out.’

6. The following Article 65a is added:

‘Article 65a

Requirements for alcohol obtained by the distillation of
certain wines

Only a product with an alcoholic strength of 92 % vol or
more may be obtained by the direct distillation of wines

obtained from grapes of varieties classified for the same
administrative unit as both wine-grape varieties and varieties
intended for the production of wine spirits.’

7. In Article 69(3), the following subparagraph is added after

the third subparagraph:

‘Where the buying-in price is varied as provided for in
Article 55(2), the aid referred to in the second indent of the
previous subparagraph shall be varied in the same manner.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

It shall apply from 1 August 2000.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 30 October 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission