REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91
Date: 2019-09-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, delegated legislation, designation of origin, labelling, powers of the institutions (EU), product designation, quality control of agricultural products, transfer of competence

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.9.2019  COM(2019) 434 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91  
 
 
REGULATION  (EU)  NO  251/2014  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL  ON 

AROMATISED WINE PRODUCTS 

1.1.  Introduction 
Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council1  lays down rules 
on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of aromatised wine products as well as 
on the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products. 

Article 4(2) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts concerning the establishment of 
authorised  production  processes  for  obtaining  aromatised  wine  products,  taking  into  account 
consumers’  expectations  and  the  production  processes  recommended  and  published  by  the 
International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). 

Article 28(1) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts concerning: 

(a)  criteria for the demarcation of the geographical area; and 
(b) 

rules, restrictions and derogations related to the production in the demarcated geographical 
area. 

Article 28(2) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts establishing the conditions under 
which product specifications may include additional requirements to those referred to in Article 
10(2) (f) in order to ensure product quality and traceability. 

Article 28(3) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts in order to: 

(a)  determine  the  cases  in  which  a  single  producer  may  apply  for  the  protection  of  a 

geographical indication; 

(b)  determine the restrictions governing the type of applicant that may apply for the protection 

of a geographical indication; 

(c)  establish  the  conditions  to  be  followed  in  respect  of  an  application  for  the  protection  of  a 
geographical  indication,  scrutiny  by  the  Commission,  the  objection  procedure,  and 
procedures for amendment and cancellation of geographical indications; 

(d)  establish the conditions applicable to transborder applications; 
(e)  set the date of submission of an application or a request; 
(f) 
(g)  establish the conditions under which an amendment is to be considered as minor as referred 

set the date from which protection shall run; 

to in Article 24(2); 

(h)  set the date on which an amendment shall enter into force; 
(i) 

establish the conditions relating to the applications for, and approval of, amendments to the 
product  specification  of  a  geographical  indication  protected  under  this  Regulation,  where 

1  

Regulation  (EU)  No 251/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  26 February  2014  on  the 
definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine 
products and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91, OJ L 84, 20.3.2014, p. 14 

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such amendments do not involve any change to the single document referred to in point (d) 
of Article 10(1). 

Article  28(4)  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts  concerning  the  restrictions 
regarding the protected name. 

Article 32(2) empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to lay down: 

(a) the nature and type of the information to be notified; 
(b) the methods of notification; 
(c) the rules related to the access rights to the information or information systems made available; 
(d) the conditions and means of publication of the information. 

Article  36(1)  empowers  the  Commission,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  transition  from  the  rules 
provided  for  in  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1601/912  to  those  established  by  Regulation  (EU)  No 
251/2014,  to  adopt,  where  appropriate,  delegated  acts  concerning  the  adoption  of  measures  to 
amend  or  derogate  from  Regulation  (EU)  No  251/2014,  which  shall  remain  in  force  until  28 
March 2018. 

1.2.  Legal Basis 

The  report  is  required  under  Article  33(2).  Pursuant  to  this  provision,  the  power  to  adopt 
delegated  acts  referred  to  in  Articles  4(2),  28,  32(2)  and  36(1)  shall  be  conferred  on  the 
Commission  for  a  period  of  five  years  from  27  March  2014.  The  Commission  shall  draw  up  a 
report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-
year  period.  The  delegation  of  power  is  tacitly  extended  for  periods  of  an  identical  duration, 
unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such  extension  not  later  than  three 
months before the end of each period. 

1.3.  Exercise of Delegation 

The  Commission  has  adopted  one  delegated  act  on  the  basis  of  Article  4(2):  Commission 
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/6703. This delegated act establishes the authorised production 
processes  for  obtaining  aromatised  wine  products,  taking  into  account  consumers’  expectations 
and the production processes recommended and published by the OIV. 

In line with the common understanding on delegated acts, Member States’ experts were consulted 
in  the  Expert  Group  for  Agricultural  Markets.  The  Commission  adopted  Delegated  Regulation 
(EU) 2017/670 on 31 January 2017 and the Regulation was notified to the European Parliament 
and  the  Council.  Neither  the  European  Parliament  nor  the  Council  issued  any  objection  to  the 
Delegated  Regulation.  After  the  expiry  of  the  two-month  period,  the  Commission  Delegated 

2   Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91 of 10 June 1991 laying down general rules on the definition, description 
and presentation of aromatized wines, aromatized wine- based drinks and aromatized wine-product cocktails, OJ 
L 149, 14.6.1991, p. 1 

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Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2017/670  of  31  January  2017  supplementing  Regulation  (EU)  No 
251/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  as  regards  the  authorised  production  processes  for 
obtaining aromatised wine product, OJ L 97, 8.4.2017, p. 5 

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Regulation (EU) 2017/670 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 97 of 8 
April 2017 and entered into force on 28 April 2017. 

The empowerments of Articles 28, 32(2) and 36(1) have not been used.  

The empowerments  of  Article 28 have not  been used, because the Commission  considered that 
the  priority  was  to  conclude  the  procedures  for  the  validation  of  the  existing  geographical 
indications first. Then, in view of the limited number of registrations of geographical indications 
for  aromatised  wines  under  Regulation  (EU)  No  251/2014,  the  Commission  proposed4  that 
geographical indications for aromatised wines should be subject to the same legal framework as 
other agricultural products and foodstuffs.  

The empowerments of Article 32(2) and 36(1) have not been used, since the Commission has not 
identified any need in this regard. 

The  Commission  does  not  intend  to  use  the  empowerments  in  the  near  future,  but  it  cannot  be 
excluded that it will become necessary. 

1.4.  Conclusions 

The  Commission  has  exercised  its  delegated  powers  correctly.  It  cannot  be  excluded  that  the 
empowerments will be needed in future. 

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this Report. 

4  

Proposal  for  a  REGULATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL  amending 
Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the  markets in  agricultural products, 
(EU)  No  1151/2012  on  quality  schemes  for  agricultural  products  and  foodstuffs,  (EU)  No  251/2014  on  the 
definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine 
products,  (EU)  No  228/2013  laying  down  specific  measures  for  agriculture  in  the  outermost  regions  of  the 
Union and (EU) No 229/2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean 
islands, COM/2018/394 final/2 

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