Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be taken by the European Union in the EEA Joint Committeeconcerning an amendment to Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification)
Date: 2012-03-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Economic Area, alcoholic beverage, designation of origin, food contamination, food inspection, food standard, labelling, product designation, revision of an agreement, spirits, stone fruit

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 6.3.2012  
COM(2012) 88 final 

2012/0038 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be taken by the European Union in the EEA Joint Committee 
concerning an amendment to Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and 
certification) 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

In  order  to  ensure  the  requisite  legal  security  and  homogeneity  of  the  Internal  Market,  the 
EEA  Joint  Committee  is  to  integrate  all  the  relevant  Community  legislation  into  the  EEA 
Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee (annexed to the proposed Council Decision) 
aims  to  amend  Annex  II  (Technical  regulations,  standards,  testing  and  certification)  to  the 
EEA Agreement by adding new European Union acquis in this field. This concerns, 

(1) 

(2) 

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; 

Commission Recommendation 2010/133/EU of 2 March 2010 on the prevention and 
reduction of ethyl carbamate contamination in stone fruit spirits and stone fruit marc 
spirits and on the monitoring of ethyl carbamate levels in these beverages;  

which are to be incorporated into the Agreement. 

For the purpose of the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, certain adaptations 
are proposed, in particular, 

(a)  The  provisions  of  the  Regulation  shall  not  prejudice  the  right  of  the  EFTA 
States to prohibit, on a non-discriminatory basis, the placing on their national 
market  of  spirit  drinks  for  direct  human  consumption  which  exceed  an 
alcoholic strength of 60%. The purpose of this adaptation, which was already 
provided  for  in  relation  to  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1576/89,  is  to  reduce  the 
problems alcohol consumption may cause in the EEA-EFTA states. 

(b)  The EEA-EFTA States shall be invited to send representatives to the meetings 
of  the  Committee  for  Spirit  Drinks,  as  referred  to  in  Article  25,  dealing  with 
matters which fall within acts referred to in the Agreement. The representatives 
of  the  EFTA  States  shall  participate  fully  in  the  work  of  the  Committee,  but 
shall not have the right to vote. 

(c)  Paragraph 4d) of Protocol 1 to the Agreement shall not apply to Chapter III of 
the  Regulation.  As  a  consequence,  the  procedures  for  application  and 
registration of geographical indications will be carried out by the Commission 
also in relation to applications from the EEA-EFTA states. 

(d)  Some  additions  to  be  made  in  Annex  III,  so  that  reference  to  Icelandic  and 

Norwegian geographical indications is continued. 

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3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Article  1(3)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2894/94  concerning  arrangements  for 
implementing  the  EEA  Agreement  provides  that  the  Council  establishes  the  position  to  be 
adopted on the Union’s behalf on such Decisions, on a proposal from the Commission. 

The Commission submits the Draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee for adoption by the 
Council as the Union’s position. The Commission would hope to be able to present it in the 
EEA Joint Committee at the earliest possible opportunity. 

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2012/0038 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be taken by the European Union in the EEA Joint Committee 
concerning an amendment to Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and 
certification) 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Articles 114 and 218(9) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

Annex II to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (“the EEA Agreement”) 
contains  specific  provisions  and  arrangements  concerning  technical  regulations, 
standards, testing and certification, 

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 1576/891 is to be incorporated into the Agreement, 

Commission Recommendation  2010/133/EU of 2 March 2010 on the prevention and 
reduction of ethyl carbamate contamination in stone fruit spirits and stone fruit marc 
spirits  and  on  the  monitoring  of  ethyl  carbamate  levels  in  these  beverages2  is  to  be 
incorporated into the Agreement, 

Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 repeals Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/893 which 
is  incorporated  into  the  Agreement  and  is  therefore  to  be  repealed  under  the 
Agreement, 

Commission  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1014/904,  which  is  incorporated  into  the 
Agreement, has become obsolete5 and is therefore to be deleted from the Agreement, 

OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16. 
OJ L 52, 3.3.2010, p. 53. 
OJ L 160, 12.6.1989, p. 1. 
OJ L 105, 25.4.1990, p. 9. 

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(6) 

(7) 

In  order  to  reduce  the  problems  alcohol  consumption  may  cause,  EFTA  States  may 
prohibit, on a non-discriminatory basis, the placing on their national market of spirit 
drinks for direct human consumption which exceed an alcoholic strength of 60%, 

Due to the special features of the system of registration of geographical indications for 
spirit drinks and the fact that a very low number of registrations are expected from the 
EFTA States, paragraph 4d) of Protocol 1 is not to be applied for these matters. As a 
consequence,  the  procedures  for  application  and  registration  of  geographical 
indications will be carried out by the Commission also in relation to applications from 
the EEA-EFTA states, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

The  position  to  be  taken  by  the  Union  within  the  EEA  Joint  Committee  on  the  proposed 
amendments to Annex II to the EEA Agreement shall be based on the draft Decision of the 
EEA Joint Committee attached to this decision. 

Article 2 

This decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX 

DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE  
No 

of 

amending Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the 
EEA Agreement 

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE, 

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol 
adjusting  the  Agreement  on  the  European  Economic  Area,  hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the 
Agreement’, and in particular Article 98 thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

Annex II to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee 
No ... of …6. 

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 1576/897 is to be incorporated into the Agreement. 

Commission Recommendation 2010/133/EU of 2 March 2010 on the prevention and 
reduction of ethyl carbamate contamination in stone fruit spirits and stone fruit marc 
spirits and on the monitoring of ethyl carbamate levels in these beverages8 is  to be 
incorporated into the Agreement. 

Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 repeals Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/899 which 
is  incorporated  into  the  Agreement  and  is  therefore  to  be  repealed  under  the 
Agreement. 

Commission  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1014/9010,  which  is  incorporated  into  the 
Agreement,  has  become  obsolete11  and  is  therefore  to  be  deleted  from  the 
Agreement. 

Due to the special features of the system of registration of geographical indications 
for  spirit  drinks  and  the  fact  that  a  very  low  number  of  registrations  are  expected 
from the EFTA States, it seems reasonable to disapply paragraph 4d) of Protocol 1 
for these matters. This shall be without prejudice to other Joint Committee Decisions. 

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7 
8 
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10 
11 

OJ L … 
OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16. 
OJ L 52, 3.3.2010, p. 53. 
OJ L 160, 12.6.1989, p. 1. 
OJ L 105, 25.4.1990, p. 9. 
OJ C 30, 6.2.2009, p. 18. 

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(7) 

This  Decision  concerns  legislation  regarding  spirit  drinks.  Legislation  regarding 
spirit  drinks  shall  not  apply  to  Liechtenstein  as  long  as  the  application  of  the 
Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade 
in agricultural products is extended to Liechtenstein, as stated in the introduction to 
Chapter XXVII of Annex II to the Agreement. This Decision is therefore not to apply 
to Liechtenstein, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

Chapter XXVII of Annex II to the Agreement shall be amended as follows: 

1. 

2. 

The  text  of  points  1  (Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1576/89)  and  2  (Commission 
Regulation (EEC) No 1014/90) shall be deleted. 

The  following  shall  be  inserted  after  point  8  (Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No 
2870/2000): 

‘9. 32008 R 0110: 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, p. 16), 
as amended by: 

- 32008  R  1334:  Regulation  (EC)  No  1334/2008  of  the  European  Parliament 

and of the Council of 16 December 2008 (OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 34). 

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read 
with the following adaptations: 

(a)  The  provisions  of  the  Regulation  shall  not  prejudice  the  right  of  the 
EFTA  States  to  prohibit,  on  a  non-discriminatory  basis,  the  placing  on 
their national market of spirit drinks for direct human consumption which 
exceed an alcoholic strength of 60%. 

(b)  The EFTA States shall be invited to send observers to the meetings of the 
Committee  for  Spirit  Drinks,  as  referred  to  in  Article  25,  dealing  with 
matters  which  fall  within  acts  referred  to  in  the  Agreement.  The 
representatives of the EFTA States shall participate fully in the work of 
the Committee, but shall not have the right to vote. 

(c)  Paragraph 4d) of Protocol 1 to the Agreement shall not apply to Chapter 

III of the Regulation. 

(d)  The following shall be added in Annex III: 

Product category  Geographical indication 

Country 
origin 

of 

15. Vodka 

Íslenskt Vodka/Icelandic Vodka 

Iceland 

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Norsk Vodka/Norwegian Vodka 

Norway 

24. Akvavit/aquavit 

ÍslensktBrennivín/Icelandic Aquavit 

Iceland 

Norsk akevitt/Norsk Aquavit/Norsk 
Akvavit/Norwegian Aquavit 

Norway 

Other spirit drinks  The geographical indications mentioned under 
this  point  concern  products  which  are  not 
defined  in  the  Regulation.  Therefore,  they 
must  be  completed  with  the  sales  description 
“spirit drink”. 

The EFTA States producing these spirit drinks 
shall  inform  the  other  Contracting  Parties  of 
the national definitions of these products. 

10. 32010 H 0133: Commission Recommendation 2010/133/EU of 2 March 2010 on 
the  prevention  and  reduction  of  ethyl  carbamate  contamination  in  stone  fruit 
spirits  and  stone  fruit  marc  spirits  and  on  the  monitoring  of  ethyl  carbamate 
levels in these beverages (OJ L 52, 3.3.2010, p. 53).’ 

Article 2 

The  texts  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  110/2008  and  Recommendation  2010/133/EU  in  the 
Icelandic  and  Norwegian  languages,  to  be  published  in  the  EEA  Supplement  to  the Official 
Journal of the European Union, shall be authentic. 

This  Decision  shall  enter  into  force  on  ,  provided  that  all  the  notifications  under  Article 
103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee*. 

Article 3 

Article 4 

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels, […]. 

For the EEA Joint Committee  
The President   
[…] 

The Secretaries 
to the EEA Joint Committee 
[…] 

*  

[No constitutional requirements indicated.] [Constitutional requirements indicated.] 

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