Recommendation from the Commission to the Council to authorise the Commission to open and conduct negotiations with the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) on the terms and conditions for the European Community's accession
Date: 2008-09-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: international organisation, viticulture, wine

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 26.9.2008 
COM(2008) 577 final 

RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

to authorise the Commission to open and conduct negotiations with the International 
Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) on the terms and conditions for the European 
Community's accession 

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RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

to authorise the Commission to open and conduct negotiations with the International 
Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) on the terms and conditions for the European 
Community's accession 

A. 

1. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

INTRODUCTION 

The  International  Organisation  of  Vine  and  Wine  (OIV)  is  an  intergovernmental 
scientific  and  technical  organisation  active  in  the  sector  of  vines,  wine,  wine-based 
drinks,  table  grapes,  raisins  and  other  vine  products.  It  was  set  up  by  international 
Agreement  of  3  April  2001,  signed  in  Paris,  as  the  successor  to  the  International 
Wine Office, established in 1924 by the International Arrangement of 29 November 
1924,  which  subsequently  became  the  International  Office  of  Vine  and  Wine  by 
decision of 4 September 1958. 

As  at  3  April  2006,  the  OIV  had  43  Members,  plus,  as  temporary  observers,  the 
former Member States of the Office. Six Member States of the European Union are 
not Members of the OIV: the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia 
and Estonia. 

The  objectives  and  activities  of  the  OIV  are  stated  in  Article  2.1  and  2.2  of  the 
Agreement  establishing  it.  Under  these  provisions,  the  OIV  has  the  following 
objectives in its areas of competence: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

to  inform  its  members  of  measures  whereby  the  concerns  of  producers, 
consumers and other players in the vine and wine products sector may be taken 
into consideration; 

to  assist  other  international  organisations,  both  intergovernmental  and  non-
governmental, especially those which carry out standardisation activities; 

to contribute to international harmonisation of existing practices and standards 
and, as necessary, to the preparation of new international standards in order to 
improve  the  conditions  for  producing  and  marketing  vine  and  wine  products, 
and to help ensure that the interests of consumers are taken into account. 

The  OIV  activities  provided  for  in  the  Agreement  establishing  it  are  then  directed 
and framed by a "triennial strategic plan" which serves as a reference framework for 
the organisation's activities. The triennial strategic plan is subsequently fleshed out in 
an "annual programme". 

A detailed presentation of the structure and procedural rules of the OIV is available 
on the organisation's website at www.oiv.org. 

To  ensure  consistency  in  the  Community's  position  in  its  external  relations  and 
permit  more  appropriate  coordination  of  internal  measures  adopted  within  the 
framework of its competences, accession of the European Community to the OIV can 
be considered legitimate and necessary. 

Community accession to the OIV does not require an amendment to its founding act 
(Paris Agreement of 3 April 2001 establishing the International Organisation of Vine 
and  Wine).  However,  pending  a  decision  on  accession  and  in  order  to  improve 

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Community  participation  in  the  OIV,  the  Community  and  its  Member  States  will 
endeavour  to  improve  their  coordination  within  the  organisation  and  enable  the 
Community to play a greater role than it can with guest status.  

Furthermore, Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 on the common organisation of 
the  market  in  wine1  stipulates  that,  in  the  matter  of  authorising  new  oenological 
practices,  the  Commission  is  to  "base  itself  on  the  oenological  practices 
recommended  and  published  by  the  International  Organisation  of  Vine  and  Wine 
(OIV)"  and,  on  the  subject  of  methods  of  analysis,  "The  methods  of  analysis  for 
determining the composition of the products covered by this Regulation and the rules 
whereby  it  may  be  established  whether  these  products  have  undergone  processes 
contrary  to  the  authorised  oenological  practices  shall  be  those  recommended  and 
published by the OIV.". 

Under  Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2008  compliance  with  the  standards  recommended 
by  the  OIV  for  oenological  practices  also  becomes  a  sufficient  condition  for 
marketing wines from third countries on the Community market. 

This underlines the need for a stronger relationship between the Community and the 
OIV.  

The Commission therefore recommends that the Council: 

– 

– 

– 

authorise  the  Commission,  under  Article  300  of  the  Treaty,  to  open  and 
conduct  negotiations  with  the  OIV  on  the  terms  and  conditions  for  European 
Community accession to the OIV; 

appoint the competent committee to assist the Commission in that task; 

adopt  the  proposed  negotiating  directives.  The  Commission  also  recommends 
that  the  Council  invite  the  Member  States  to  demonstrate  their  support  for 
those objectives. 

2. 

COMMUNITY COMPETENCES IN MATTERS DEALT WITH BY THE OIV 

The  OIV  is  an  intergovernmental  organisation  that  plays  a  major  role  in  setting 
standards,  which  involves  drafting  resolutions,  recommendations  and  proposals  on 
various  aspects  of  the  production  of  and  trade  in  wine-sector  products,  e.g. 
oenological  practices,  product  descriptions  and  definitions,  labelling,  marketing 
conditions,  analysis  and  assessment  methods,  the  protection  of  geographical 
indications and the protection of varieties. 

Its  resolutions  are  generally  incorporated,  with  no  change  to  their  legal  scope,  into 
more  detailed  standards,  usually  in  the  form  of  codes,  periodically  updated  on  the 
basis of the resolutions adopted by the organisation. To date the OIV has published 
several  codes  serving  as  references  for  all  its  Members,  e.g.  the  International 
Oenological Codex, the Compendium of International Methods of Analysis of Wine 
and  Must,  the  Compendium  of  international  methods  of  analysis  of  spirited 
beverages,  international  standards  for  wine  and  spirit  competitions,  and  the 
international standard for labelling wines and spirit drinks. 

Since  the  common  organisation  of  the  market  in  wine  was  established,  the 
Community  has  maintained  and  expanded  its  competences  in  the  wine  sector,  the 
Community  being  given  exclusive  competence  in  the  areas  covered  by  the  CMO, 

1 

OJ L 148, 6.6.2008, p. 1. 

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which  are  now  detailed  essentially  in  Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2008  and  its 
implementing regulations. 

The  Community  secondary  legislation  on  matters  covered  by  the  OIV  includes  the 
following: 

–  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); 

–  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  479/2008  of  29  April  2008  on  the  common 

organisation of the market in wine (OJ L 148, 6.6.2008); 

–  Commission Regulation (EC) No 423/2008 of 8 May 2008 on laying down certain 
detailed  rules  for  implementing  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1493/1999  and 
establishing a Community code of oenological practices and processes (Codified 
version, OJ L 127, 15.5.2008); 

–  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); 

–  Commission Regulation (EC) No 1607/2000 of 24 July 2000 laying down detailed 
rules  for  implementing  Regulation  (EC)  No  1493/1999  on  the  common 
organisation of the market in wine, in particular the Title relating to quality wine 
produced in specified regions (OJ L 185, 25.7.2000); 

–  Commission  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2676/90  of  17  September  1990  determining 

Community methods for the analysis of wines (OJ L 272, 3.10.1990); 

–  Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91 of 10 June 1991 laying down general rules 
on  the  definition,  description  and  presentation  of  aromatised  wines,  aromatised 
wine-based drinks and aromatised wine-product cocktails (OJ L 149, 14.6.1991); 

–  Commission Regulation (EC) No 122/94 of 25 January 1994 laying down certain 
detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91 on the 
definition,  description  and  presentation  of  aromatised  wines,  aromatised  wine-
based drinks, and aromatised wine-product cocktails (OJ L 21, 26.1.1994); 

–  Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
15 January  2008  on  the  definition,  description,  presentation,  labelling  and  the 
protection  of  geographical  indications  of  spirit  drinks  and  repealing  Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 (OJ L 39, 13.2.2008); 

–  Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 
2000  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member  States  relating  to  the 
labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs (OJ L 109, 6.5.2000); 

–  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1234/2007  of  22 October  2007  establishing  a 
common  organisation  of  agricultural  markets  and  on  specific  provisions  for 
certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (OJ L 299, 16.11.2007), as 
amended, inter alia, by Regulation (EC) No 361/2008 of 14 April 2008 (OJ L 121, 
7.5.2008), which lays down rules applicable in particular to fruit and vegetables; 

–  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  2789/1999  of  22  December  1999  laying  down 

the marketing standard for table grapes (OJ L 336, 29.12.1999); 

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–  Council Directive 2001/112/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to fruit juices and 
certain similar products intended for human consumption (OJ L 10, 12.1.2002). 

The  OIV's  activities  in  which  the  Members  have  exclusive  competence  are  very 
limited  in  number  and  of  minor  importance  in  the  context  of  the  OIV's  general 
objectives. 

The situation within the Community contrasts with that in the OIV, where at present 
only full OIV Members have the right to participate actively in decision-making.  

For  this  reason,  the  Community  does  not  have  adequate  status  to  exercise  its 
competences directly in this organisation, as national positions are always considered 
individually,  irrespective  of  whether  the  OIV  Member  concerned  is  a  Community 
Member State or not. 

Community legislation also already refers directly to OIV resolutions on methods of 
analysis, recognising as part of the common organisation of the market in wine the 
Compendium  of  International  Methods  of  Analysis  of  Wine  and  Must,  and  it  is 
seeking  progressively,  as  far  as  possible,  to  achieve  consistency  with  other  OIV 
standards  such  as  the  International  Code  of  Oenological  Practices  and  the 
International Oenological Codex. 

Community accession to the OIV is also part of the process of the reform of the wine 
market  organisation,  the  Council  having  decided  to  reinforce  the  existing  link 
between  the  acts  adopted  by  the  OIV  and  Community  legislation,  by  in  particular 
basing  itself  on  OIV  recommendations  for  setting  Community  standards  for 
oenological  practices  and  laying  down  that  the  methods  of  analysis  authorised  are 
those recommended and published by the OIV. 

COMMUNITY ACCESSION 

Status  of  the  European  Community  and  EC  participation  in  the  work  of  the 
OIV 

The  European  Community  currently  has  no  official  status  in  the  OIV,  although 
Article  8  of  the  Agreement  of  3  April  2001  establishing  the  International 
Organisation  of  Vine  and  Wine  expressly  provides  for  the  possibility  for 
intergovernmental organisations to become full members of the organisation. 

At present, the Commission is regularly invited as a representative of the European 
Community  to  attend  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  groups  of  experts, 
Sub-Commissions  and  Commissions,  but  it  is  not  allowed  to  participate  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Executive  Committee  (invited  ad  hoc)  and  makes  no  voluntary 
financial contribution to the OIV.  

In the light of the above, the current status, permitting only passive participation by 
Commission  representatives  in  the  OIV's  proceedings,  is  far  from  satisfactory  or 
adequate.  

3. 

3.1 

3.2 

Need for Community accession 

Given  that  the  OIV's  areas  of  competence  are  now  largely  covered  by  Community 
legislation,  the  Community's  role  within  the  OIV  needs  to  be  reinforced  and 
formalised  to  enable  it  to  ensure  consistency  in  the  Community  position  at 
international level and guarantee adequate representation of Community interests. 

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Accession  as  a  full  member  appears  to  be  the  most  appropriate  solution.  The  other 
options open to the Community under the OIV's rules, in particular special observer 
status or guest status, are not satisfactory.  

Neither  guest  status  nor  special  observer  status  permits  actual  participation  in  OIV 
proceedings,  but  merely  allows  those  with  such  status  to  intervene  in  or  attend 
certain  OIV  bodies  without  the  possibility  of  presenting  proposals  or  amendments. 
Neither status entitles the Community to speak on matters falling within its exclusive 
competence, or to advocate decisions taken at Community level.  

In  addition,  under  the  Agreement  establishing  the  OIV,  a  financial  contribution  is 
payable  by  intergovernmental  organisations  holding  a  particular  status.  The 
Community  cannot  accept  this  statutory  requirement  since  it  does  not  in  return 
receive any voting rights. 

For  the  above  reasons  also,  the  option  available  to  international  organisations  to 
conclude  a  cooperation  and  collaboration  protocol  with  the  OIV  would  also  appear 
largely insufficient. 

3.3 

a) 

Accession application 

Stages of accession 

The  Agreement  of  3  April  2001  expressly  provides  for  the  possibility  for 
“intergovernmental organisations” to become members of the OIV.  

The accession process would consist of the following stages: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

the  Council  authorises  the  Commission  to  negotiate  the  terms  and  conditions 
for OIV membership; 

the Commission opens and conducts negotiations with the OIV on an accession 
protocol; 

the  Commission  adopts  a  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  Community 
accession to the OIV and presents it to the Council; 

a Council Decision authorises the European Community to accede to the OIV; 
the instruments of accession are submitted to the French Ministry for Foreign 
Affairs (Article 15 of Chapter IX of the Agreement establishing the OIV); 

the  Community's  membership  of  the  OIV  takes  effect  under  the  terms  of  the 
relevant provision of the Agreement establishing the OIV. 

b) 

Rules of procedure 

Under Article 2 of the general provisions of the OIV's Rules of Procedure, a protocol 
must  be  established  between  the  OIV  and  the  European  Community  in  order  to 
establish  the  specific  membership  conditions  and  the  procedures  for  implementing 
voting rights. 

the  Executive  Committee.  Nevertheless, 

The protocol requires the agreement of the General Assembly, following a proposal 
by 
the  protocol  must  result  from 
negotiations in which the European Community takes part on an equal footing with 
the OIV, not from a unilateral act by OIV bodies.  

In any event, joint action by the Member States within the Executive Committee will 
be  needed  when  the  proposal  on  the  accession  protocol  is  being  drawn  up.  The 
cooperation of the Member States is all the more important with regard to certain key 

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aspects  of  the  accession  negotiations,  such  as  the  terms  on  which  the  Community 
would  participate  in  the  bodies  of  the  organisation,  its  participation  in  elective 
functions,  the  establishment  of  the  amount  of  the  financial  contribution  and  in 
general all the practical aspects that will have to be considered in the OIV and in the 
accession protocol in order to allow the European Community to exercise its powers 
fully  without  facing  legal  or  administrative  restrictions.  Such  powers  might  be 
exercised without new voting rights having to be created. 

3.4 

Coordination  and  division  of  competences  between  the  European  Community 
and its Member States 

Once membership takes effect, the Commission and Member States will participate 
jointly  as  Members  in  the  work  of  the  OIV;  they  will  have  to  establish  internal 
coordination procedures ensuring an effective representation of Community interests 
within  the  OIV,  based  on  the  example  of  its  participation  in  other  international 
organisations. 

It is necessary in particular to establish specific procedures concerning: 

–  preparation  for  OIV  meetings  and  in  particular  procedures  for  coordinating 
common positions and Community positions both in Brussels and at the meetings 
themselves,  and  arrangements  for  providing  common  replies  to  questionnaires 
sent by the organisation; 

–  the allocation of voting rights and the right of intervention, depending on the type 

of competence (exclusive, national, shared). 

The  rules  for  coordination  will  have  to  be  sufficiently  detailed  so  as  to  ensure  that 
they  can  be  easily  applied,  but  at  the  same  time  they  will  have  to  be  sufficiently 
flexible to allow for the necessary adaptations. 

Coordination will take practical form with the conclusion of an arrangement between 
the Commission and the Council, annexed to the final Council Decision authorising 
the Community's accession to the OIV.  

Alongside  the  drawing  up  of  effective  rules  for  coordination  and  strictly  related  to 
them,  upon  joining  the  OIV,  the  European  Community  will  have  to  draw  up  a 
general statement of competence; this statement can then be annexed to the accession 
decision taken by the Council on the Commission proposal and incorporated into the 
accession  protocol  concluded  between  the  Community  and  the  OIV.  Thereafter, 
when  the  Community  is  participating  in  the  activities  of  the  OIV,  a  specific 
competence statement, based on the general statement of competence, will normally 
have to be drafted before any meeting.  

4. 

TRANSITIONAL MEASURES 

On a transitional basis and in order to improve relations with the OIV with a view to 
its accession, the European Community must have a more appropriate status than at 
present.  

The  Community  needs  to  reinforce  its  institutional  relations  with  the  OIV  by 
improving  on  its  guest  status  so  that  it  can,  under  Article  5  of  the  OIV's  Rules  of 
Procedure, intervene in all the OIV's bodies (apart from the Scientific and Technical 
Committee)  by  applying  to  the  Director  General  (who  will  then  have  to  seek  the 
approval  of  the  Executive  Committee)  for  recurring  guest  status.  Formally  such 

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status  would  not  change  the  Community's  position  within  the  OIV,  which  would 
remain that of a guest, and would not therefore require Council authorisation. 

In addition, the Community and its Member States should work together to improve 
their  internal  coordination  and  systematically  work  out  a  common  position  on 
matters  of  Community  competence.  To  that  end  the  Member  States  and  the 
Commission will have to consult on improving Community participation in the work 
of the OIV and ways of making it more effective. 

5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The Community has to become a member of the OIV because no other status could 
be  considered  politically  and  legally  in  line  with  Community  competences  in  the 
OIV's areas of activity. 

Given  the  time  the  accession  process  and  the  negotiation  involved  will  take,  a 
transitional  solution  also  needs  to  be  found  for  improving  and  reinforcing  internal 
procedures  for  coordinating  positions  in  the  OIV  and  the  Community's  institutional 
role in the organisation. 

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing,  the  Commission  recommends  that  the  Council 
authorise it under Article 300 of the Treaty to open and conduct negotiations with the 
OIV  on  the  terms  and  conditions  of  European  Community  accession  to  the  OIV, 
appoint the committee to assist the Commission in this task and adopt the negotiating 
directives set out in the Annex. 

The negotiating directives in the Annex have been drawn up with a view to enabling 
the Community to become a member of the OIV. The status obtained must enable the 
Community, in the areas in which it has competence and on an equal footing with the 
OIV's Members: 

1. 

2. 

to express its views during negotiations, or at any meeting of the OIV bodies; 

in those areas in which decisions are voted on, to have a weighted voting right 
equivalent  to  that  of  its  Member  States  represented  in  the  OIV  bodies 
concerned  and  bound  by  the  Community  legislation  forming  the  basis  for  its 
competence in external relations; 

3. 

to  express  consent  on  its  own  behalf  to  the  rights  and  obligations  stemming 
from the instruments concluded in the OIV. 

In  accordance  with  Article  300  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission  will  have  to 
conduct  the  negotiations  in  consultation  with  a  special  committee  appointed  by  the 
Council. The Member States which are currently members of the OIV will have to 
give their full support to Community accession to the organisation. 

Once  the  negotiations  have  been  completed  and  in  the  light  of  the  outcome,  the 
Commission  will  present  a  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  accession  of  the 
European Community to the OIV. 

B. 

RECOMMENDATION 

In the light of the above, the Commission recommends that: 

– 

the Council authorise the Commission to negotiate the terms and conditions of 
European Community accession to the OIV; 

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– 

– 

so  that  the  Commission  can,  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty,  conduct  these 
negotiations  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community,  the  Council  appoint  a 
special committee to assist it in this task; 

the  Council  adopt  the  negotiating  directives  set  out  in  the  Annex  to  this 
recommendation. 

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ANNEX 

Negotiating Directives 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

The Community must obtain the status of full member, putting it on an equal footing 
with the OIV's Members. 

The  status  obtained  must  enable  the  Community  to  participate  in  negotiations  and 
meetings on an equal footing with the OIV's Members. 

The Community will not pay a financial contribution to the OIV budget. Should this 
position  prove  untenable  or  jeopardise  the  chances  of  the  current  OIV  membership 
consenting  to  its  accession,  the  Community  could  agree,  as  a  fallback  solution,  to 
allocate a sum to cover certain expenses incurred in its accession. Such a sum cannot 
be fixed unilaterally by the OIV but must be agreed with the Community. 

As a full member the Community must be allowed to accede to all OIV instruments 
negotiated in the future in its areas of competence. 

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