WRITTEN QUESTION E-0724/04 by María Herranz García (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Rules on labelling wines.
Date: 2004-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: TRIPS, designation of origin, labelling, marketing standard, product designation, third country, wine

C 88 E/206

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

Although none of the present members of the AC is Portuguese, other Portuguese stakeholders will
certainly be in the various bodies and structures of the Platform, such as the Member States Mirror Group,
Steering Panels and Initiative Groups and more importantly the Platform operations, where all relevant on-
going activities expressing an interest in being involved are welcome. The Commission takes note of the
possible interest of the ‘Laboratorio de Ambiente Marínho e Tecnologias, da Universidade dos Açores’.

(2004/C 88 E/0214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0724/04

by María Herranz García (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Rules on labelling wines

After years of negotiating with the USA and other third countries on protecting Community wine
appellations and radical EU opposition to any usurping of these appellations by third countries, the
Commission has finally decided that, despite all the efforts made in the past, it is giving in to external
pressure. It has legitimised this usurpatory behaviour by adopting an amendment to the rules on wine
labelling in the Management Committee, despite the fact that the main producer countries voted against.

From now on, any third country that can prove that for at least ten years it has been usurping traditional
terms such as gran reserva and crianza cannot only continue to do so, but can now market its products,
using these terms, in the EU.

Why has the Commission made this 180 o turn, which could well weaken our position in the WTO
negotiations to safeguard our geographical appellations? What pay-off does the Commission expect from
this decision?

While it is true that some countries have lodged complaints with the WTO against the Community rules
on wine labelling adopted in 2002, why did the Commission not at the very least wait to find out what
the WTO has to say on the issue?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2004)

We adopted new rules on the description, designation and protection of certain wine sector products in
order to avert the possibility of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel. This would have been a serious
threat to European wine labelling policy.

Following notification of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 (1) to the World Trade Organisation, several third
countries sent their observations and expressed reservations to the WTO. Two consultations were held in
Geneva. Exclusive protection of certain traditional terms (List B) was regarded by the third countries as a
new intellectual property right of the Union covered by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (additional to that for geographical indications). A WTO panel might well have
jeopardised EU policy on protection of geographical indications and was to be avoided.

In the light of the third country observations we decided to make a number of changes to the Regulation.
Primarily the changes give third countries the possibility of using certain traditional terms subject to
compliance with the same rules as those for Member States. Account also had to be taken of the fact that
several third countries do not have a centralised regulatory system for the wine sector. The European
legislative system requirements were therefore amended and the concept of ‘regulation’ replaced by that of
‘applicable rules’. These rules include those issued by representative trade organisations and these
organisations were themselves defined.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/207

It is important to remember that unlike Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 Council Regulation
(EC) No 1493/1999 (2) makes no reference to two types of traditional term but only to the possibility open
to the Commission of adopting rules on traditional terms that accord with the provisions in force in the
Member States.

The new requirements for third countries’ use of Community traditional terms are the equivalent of the
requirements already in force for the traditional terms of List A in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 753/
2002.

They include (see Article 1(10) of Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 (3) amending Article 37(1)(e) of Regulation
(EC) No 753/2002) the following:

(cid:1) the third country must present a substantiated request to the Commission and provide the justificatory

data for recognition of the traditional term;

(cid:1) the language of the traditional term must be the official language of the third country and the term in

that language must have been used for at least 10 years;

(cid:1) if the language of the traditional term is not the official language, its use must be provided for in the
language must have been used

in such cases the traditional

term in that

country’s legislation;
continuously for at least 25 years;

(cid:1) other requirements such as that the term be specific and distinctive and that there is no risk of

consumers being misled.

In the case of the Spanish traditional terms Gran Reserva and Crianza referred to in the written question,
the requirements for their use in the Community by third countries remain unchanged, since they were
already included in List A in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council
Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine
sector products, OJ L 118, 4.5.2002.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine,

OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 of 20 February 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 laying
down certain rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation,
presentation and protection of certain wine sector products, OJ L 55, 24.2.2004.

(2004/C 88 E/0215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0749/04

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Introduction of the sector approach in EU development cooperation

The Commmission’s development cooperation activities have undergone significant changes since the
introduction of the sector approach, which increasingly provides for direct budget support to beneficiary
countries. As a result, the amount of funding available for technical assistance (TA) in the form of projects
for European consultancy firms is steadily decreasing, as in future a wide range of tasks will need to be
carried out by the beneficiary state and its authorities.

Can the Commission provide statistics showing the absolute (in euro) and relative development of
technical assistance (including procurement procedures) as a percentage of the Commission’s estimated
development budget (e.g. projects/budget support/total budget) from 1996 to the present day and, as a
projection, until the end of the current financial period in 2006?