WRITTEN QUESTION E-2782/01 by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission. Harmful effects of mixed strain wines.
Date: 2001-10-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer information, food consumption, market approval, product quality, public health, quality standard, vineyard, wine

C 93 E/190

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.4.2002

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

The Standing Committee of the European Convention on the Protection of Animals kept for Farming
Purposes adopted, on 22 April 1997, a Recommendation concerning ratites (Ostriches, Emus and Rheas).
The Recommendation came into force six months later.

Member States, as well as the Community, are contracting parties to the Convention and are expected to
apply the Recommendation.

The Recommendation introduces specific provisions to reduce stress on animals from exposure to low
temperatures, taking into account their biological characteristics. In particular, it provides that farms shall
be situated only in areas where the climate and other conditions allow birds to be kept outside most of the
day in all seasons and where large areas of well drained land can offer sufficient space for their exercise
and grazing needs.

Furthermore,
recommends to lay sand on outside areas when they are icy.

it recommends equipping enclosures where animals are kept with heating devices, and

The Committee will review the Recommendation in 2002, taking into account farming experiences and
new scientific evidence.

(2002/C 93 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2782/01

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(9 October 2001)

Subject: Harmful effects of mixed strain wines

Community legislation bans the sale, though not the consumption, of wine produced from the hybrid
Clinton, Jacquez, Noah, Isabelle and Herbemont strains.

An article by Jean-Claude Bouvier in Ardèche Parisienne No 1016 claims that there is no truth in the
accusations levelled against wines made from grapes of these strains which have even, apparently, been
being developed by the Montpellier INRA (National Agricultural Research Institute) for nearly six years.

Does the Commission believe that there is conclusive evidence that wine made from these strains is
harmful to public health? If so, would it please provide exact references for the relevant scientific sources?

If it has been conclusively shown that drinking such wines is harmful to the public, is it not simply
incomprehensible that what is banned is merely the sale and not the consumption thereof which is
banned?

Is it not essential that the public be fully and unambiguously informed as to the possible harmful effects
(or lack of them) of drinking this kind of wine?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

The Commission has no knowledge of the article cited by the Honourable Member.

Article 19 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on common organisation of the
in wine (1) provides that only vine varieties appearing in the classifications established by
market
Member States may be used for wine production, unless the wine is intended for consumption by the
producer’s family. This provision has been in the Community rules since 1987.

Since 1979 the rules have not allowed the six hybrid varieties mentioned to be included in the
classifications of authorised and recommended varieties. Hence since that date it has been illegal to plant
them in the Community.

In France it has been illegal since 1935 to plant them and since 1953 to offer their wine for sale for
human consumption. All vines had to be grubbed up before 1957.

18.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 93 E/191

The prime reasons for exclusion are the health-related and gustatory defects of wine from these varieties:
their ‘foxy’ taste and high methanol content.

Improvement of wine quality, notably through varietal upgrading and strict wine marketing rules, is one of
the principal reasons for common organisation of the Community wine market.

The Commission is not aware of any recent scientific study on the health effects of consumption of this
type of wine. This is understandable when it has not been produced for more than 20 years.

(1) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(2002/C 93 E/227)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2786/01

by Mathieu Grosch (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 October 2001)

Subject: Registration of motor vehicles in Belgium @ Royal Decree of 20 July 2001

On 20 July 2001 the Kingdom of Belgium issued a Royal Decree on the registration of motor vehicles in
Belgium. Article 3 lays down the following:

Article 3(1) @ Persons resident in Belgium shall register vehicles which they wish to bring into use in
Belgium at the registry referred to in Article 6, even if those vehicles are already registered abroad.
Residence in Belgium means that the persons concerned meet one of the following conditions: …

Article 3(2) @ In the following instances, however, registration of vehicles registered abroad and
brought into use by the persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall not be compulsory if the vehicle
concerned:

(i)

(ii)

is made available by a foreign hire establishment, for a period not exceeding 48 hours, to a
natural or legal person entered on the residence register of a local authority in Belgium or on a
business register in Belgium;

is used by a natural person in pursuit of his or her occupation and registered abroad in the name
of a foreign owner with which that person has a contract of employment; a certificate issued by
the authority whose powers include responsibility for value-added tax shall be present inside the
vehicle; the detailed conditions governing the use of the vehicle shall be laid down. (unofficial
translation).

1.
Is this an infringement of freedom to provide services pursuant to Article 49 of the EC Treaty, since
this rule places an additional financial burden on residents of Belgium working in a self-employed capacity
in the neighbouring country of Luxembourg?

2.

Do such rules exist in other Member States, and how are they applied to self-employed persons?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

1.
The Commission is of the opinion that, generally, the freedom to provide services laid down in
Article 49 (ex Article 59) of the EC Treaty may not be restricted by an obligation to register vehicles in the
country of residence of the user unless that obligation is consistent with the case-law of the Court of
Justice on the freedom to provide services, and in particular if it is proportional to the public interest
objective pursued.

As far as Belgium is concerned, the Commission has opened infringement proceedings in respect of the old
Belgian rules governing the registration of motor vehicles, and it is examining the new laws on the subject.