2000/810/EC: Council Decision of 19 December 2000 on the granting of exceptional national aid by the Government of the French Republic for the distillation of certain wine sector products
Date: 2000-12-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: France, State aid, application of EU law, distillation, wine

L 328/52

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

23.12.2000

COUNCIL DECISION

of 19 December 2000

on the granting of exceptional national aid by the Government of the French Republic for the
distillation of certain wine sector products

(2000/810/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 88(2), third subpara-
graph, thereof,

Having regard to the request made by the Government of the
French Republic on 8 December 2000,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Article 29 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of
17 May 1999 on the common organisation of
the
market in wine (1) allows Community support for the
distillation of wines in order to support the wine market
and, as a consequence,
facilitate the continuation of
supplies of wine distillate.

Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 allows a
crisis distillation measure if there is an exceptional case
of wine market disturbance caused by serious surpluses
and/or problems of quality.

In the course of the 2000/2001 wine-growing year, it
has become clear that the timetable for beginning distil-
lation operations is unsuited to certain vineyards. The
distribution of contract applications shows that
the
measure is not equally accessible to all wine-growing
regions, particularly in France, where the price of
EUR 2,488/% vol/hl is out of line with the production
costs of wine-growers,
in particular those who have
made efforts to improve quality. Furthermore, operators
are tending to adopt an opportunist approach in a situa-
tion of increased competition on the alcohol market.
The last two sizeable harvests following upon three low
harvests, coupled with an unforeseeable reduction in
consumption and a drop in exports, have led to a
considerable increase of 40 % of stocks in some regions.

The operation and practice of distillation by jobbing
distillers, which seems to be spreading, and the crisis
distillation introduced on a case-by-case basis at the
request of Member States with the adoption of prices
that differ according to the requests,
in the French
Government's view,
require detailed examination in
order to assess their effects on the market.

To deal with the situation, the French Government is
planning to grant exceptional aid to producers who
supply wine for one of the forms of distillation referred
to in Articles 29 and 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/

1999 and who do not exceed a crop yield ceiling fixed
at 90 hectolitres per hectare, so that the national addi-
tion to wine prices will bring the price up to EUR 3,7/%
vol/hl for a quota of 1 000 000 hectolitres requested
pursuant to Article 29. In this case, the overall amount
of national aid will be EUR 12,2 million. Should it not
prove possible to implement this measure fully from the
quota available pursuant
it would be
implemented pursuant to Article 30 and the maximum
cost of the national measure would then be EUR 17,86
million.

to Article 29,

(6)

Exceptional circumstances therefore exist, making it
possible to consider such aid, by way of derogation and
to the extent strictly necessary to remedy the imbalance
which has arisen, to be compatible with the common
market on the terms specified in this Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Exceptional aid by the French Government for the distillation
of 1 000 000 hectolitres of wine on French territory:

— totalling EUR 12,2 million, for the amount necessary to

bring the price of wine up to EUR 3,7/% vol/hl,

or, should it not prove possible to implement this measure
fully from the quota available pursuant to Article 29 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1493/1999:

— totalling EUR 17,86 million, for the amount necessary to
bring the price of wine up to EUR 3,7/% vol/hl, for imple-
mentation pursuant to Article 30 of the aforementioned
Regulation,

shall be considered to be compatible with the common market.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.

Done at Brussels, 19 December 2000.

For the Council

The President

J. GLAVANY

(1) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Commssion

Regulation (EC) No 1622/2000 (OJ L 194, 31.7.2000, p. 1).