Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/405 of 13 December 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards oenological practices
Date: 2024-12-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: consumer protection, distillation, food inspection, harmonisation of standards, labelling, organic farming, organic product, quality control of agricultural products, vinification, wine








L_202500405EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/405


26.2.2025







            COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2025/405
of 13 December 2024
         
amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards oenological practices


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (1), and in particular Article 18(2) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) has amended Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). In the context of that amendment, de-alcoholised wine has been added to the products of the wine sector listed in Part XII of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and a new Section E relating to de-alcoholisation processes has been added to the oenological practices laid down in Part I of Annex VIII to that Regulation.












(2)


Since de-alcoholised wine has become a product of the wine sector, specific production rules of the wine sector laid down in Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 should apply to the production of organic de-alcoholised wine.












(3)


Under Regulation (EU) 2018/848, de-alcoholised wine cannot be produced organically. Pursuant to Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848, none of the de-alcoholisation processes listed for the wine sector in Section E of Part I of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 are permitted for organic production. Point 3.4 of Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 provides that any amendment concerning oenological practices, processes and treatments provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 may apply to the organic production of wine only after those measures have been included as permitted in Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and, if required, after an evaluation in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.












(4)


In accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 24(7) of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, one Member State has submitted a dossier to the other Member States and the Commission concerning the use of vacuum distillation to produce de-alcoholised organic wines in view of its authorisation and inclusion in point 3.3 of Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848. That dossier has been evaluated by the Expert Group for Technical Advice on Organic Production (EGTOP) (4) and the Commission.












(5)


EGTOP recommended to amend point 3.3 of Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848, listing vacuum evaporative techniques among permitted practices, exclusively for the production of totally de-alcoholised organic wine, providing the limitations in terms of temperature (75 °C) and filtration pores (not smaller than 0,2 micrometres) are fulfilled.












(6)


Those vacuum evaporative techniques correspond to the de-alcoholisation process ‘partial vacuum evaporation’ and ‘distillation’, whether used on their own or in combination, referred to in points (a) and (c) of Section E of Part I of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.












(7)


On this basis, it is appropriate to add the use of partial vacuum evaporation and distillation in point 3.3 of Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 in order to authorise those uses in the production of organic de-alcoholised wine provided that the produced wine has an alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 0,5 % vol, the temperature used does not exceed 75 °C, the size of the pores for the filtration is not smaller than 0,2 micrometres and that the distillation is used under vacuum.












(8)


Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 refers to Commission Regulations (EC) No 606/2009 (5) and (EC) No 607/2009 (6). Those Regulations have been repealed respectively by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934 (7) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (8). In the interest of clarity, the legal references to those acts should be updated.












(9)


Regulation (EU) 2018/848 should therefore be amended accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 13 December 2024.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/oj.

(2)  Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021, 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 and (EU) No 228/2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union (OJ L 435, 6.12.2021, p. 262, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/2117/oj).

(3)  Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1308/oj).

(4)  EGTOP final report on Wine II: https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/organic-farming/co-operation-and-expert-advice/egtop-reports_en.

(5)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 606/2009 of 10 July 2009 laying down certain detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 as regards the categories of grapevine products, oenological practices and the applicable restrictions (OJ L 193, 24.7.2009, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/606/oj).

(6)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 607/2009 of 14 July 2009 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 as regards protected designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products (OJ L 193, 24.7.2009, p. 60, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/607/oj).

(7)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards wine-growing areas where the alcoholic strength may be increased, authorised oenological practices and restrictions applicable to the production and conservation of grapevine products, the minimum percentage of alcohol for by-products and their disposal, and publication of OIV files (OJ L 149, 7.6.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2019/934/oj).

(8)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 of 17 October 2018 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards applications for protection of designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional terms in the wine sector, the objection procedure, restrictions of use, amendments to product specifications, cancellation of protection, and labelling and presentation, (OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2019/33/oj).




ANNEX
Part VI of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 is amended as follows:






(1)


Section 1.2 is replaced by the following:






‘1.2.


Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2019/934* and (EU) 2019/33** shall apply, save as explicitly provided otherwise in this Part.






*


Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards wine-growing areas where the alcoholic strength may be increased, authorised oenological practices and restrictions applicable to the production and conservation of grapevine products, the minimum percentage of alcohol for by-products and their disposal, and publication of OIV files (OJ L 149, 7.6.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2019/934/oj).










**


Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 of 17 October 2018 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards applications for protection of designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional terms in the wine sector, the objection procedure, restrictions of use, amendments to product specifications, cancellation of protection, and labelling and presentation (OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2019/33/oj).’;


















(2)


Section 2.2 is replaced by the following:






‘2.2.


Only products and substances authorised in accordance with Article 24 for use in organic production may be used for the making of products of the wine sector, including during the oenological practices, processes and treatments, subject to the conditions and restrictions laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934, and in particular in Part A of Annex I to the latter Regulation.’;














(3)


Section 3.1 is replaced by the following:






‘3.1.


Without prejudice to Sections 1 and 2 of this Part and to specific prohibitions and restrictions provided for in Sections 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4, only oenological practices, processes and treatments, including the restrictions provided for in Article 80 and Article 83(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, in Article 3, Articles 5 to 9 and Articles 11 to 13 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934, and in the Annexes to those Regulations used before 1 August 2010 shall be permitted.’;














(4)


in Section 3.2, points (b), (c), (d) and (e) are replaced by the following:






‘(b)


elimination of sulphur dioxide by physical processes as referred to in entry 5 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934;










(c)


electrodialysis treatment to ensure the tartaric stabilisation of the wine as referred to in entry 10 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934;










(d)


correction of the alcohol content of wine as referred to in entry 12 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934;










(e)


treatment with cation exchangers for tartaric stabilisation of the wine as referred to in entry 13 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934.’;














(5)


Section 3.3. is replaced by the following:






‘3.3.


The use of the following oenological practices, processes and treatments is permitted under the following conditions:






(a)


heat treatments as referred to in entry 2 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934, provided that the temperature does not exceed 75 °C;










(b)


centrifugation and filtration with or without an inert filtering agent as referred to in entry 3 of Table 1 of Part A of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934, provided that the size of the pores is not smaller than 0,2 micrometres;










(c)


partial vacuum evaporation as referred to in point (a) of Section E of Part I of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, whether used on its own or in combination with distillation as referred in point (d) of this Section, provided that partial vacuum evaporation is used only for the production of de-alcoholised wine with an alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 0,5 % vol. and that the temperature used does not exceed 75 °C and that the size of the pores for the filtration is not smaller than 0,2 micrometres;










(d)


distillation as referred to in point (c) of Section E of Part I of Annex VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, whether used on its own or in combination with partial vacuum evaporation as referred in point (c) of this Section, provided that distillation is used only for the production of de-alcoholised wine with an alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 0,5 % vol. and that it is used under vacuum and that the temperature used does not exceed 75 °C and that the size of the pores for the filtration is not smaller than 0,2 micrometres.’;


















(6)


Section 3.4. is replaced by the following:






‘3.4.


Any amendment introduced after 1 August 2010 concerning the oenological practices, processes and treatments provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934 may apply to the organic production of wine only after those measures have been included as permitted in this Section and, if required, after an evaluation in accordance with Article 24 of this Regulation.’











ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/405/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)