REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercice of power to adopt delegated acts pursuant to Article 46(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008
Date: 2025-06-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, alcoholic beverage, beverage industry, consumer information, delegated legislation, designation of origin, ethanol, foodstuff, labelling, powers of the institutions (EU), product designation

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.6.2025  COM(2025) 306 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercice of power to adopt delegated acts pursuant to Article 46(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council1, of 17 April 2019 
on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names 
of  spirit  drinks  in  the  presentation  and  labelling  of  other  foodstuffs,  the  protection  of 
geographical  indications  for  spirit  drinks,  the  use  of  ethyl  alcohol  and  distillates  of 
agricultural  origin  in  alcoholic  beverages,  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No  110/2008, 
establishes a common legal framework for spirit drinks produced in the Union. In particular, 
it provides rules on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks and 
for  their  control  and  supervision  and  it  is  the  basic  act  for  EU  schemes  on  geographical 
indications in spirit drinks sector.  

That Regulation aligns EU legislation on spirit drinks with the Treaty on the Functioning of 
the European Union (TFEU) as regards  the provisions  to  be  adopted by the Commission 
(delegated and implementing acts).  

Besides the alignment with the TFEU, the Regulation improves and updates the framework 
for the protection of spirit drinks geographical indications that was already regulated under 
Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council2, 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. It replaces 
the  existing  rules  on  protection  and  the  procedures  for  registration,  amendment  and 
cancellation of geographical indications in the spirit drinks sector, as well as for the register, 
with new rules and procedures modelled on the more exhaustive and well tested procedures 
for agricultural products and foodstuffs.  

to  adopt  delegated  acts 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/787  empowers 
supplementing or amending  some of those rules and – for certain among them – imposes on 
the Commission an obligation to report to the co-legislators on the exercise of the delegated 
powers it contains. 

the  Commission 

In  particular,  in  accordance  with  Article  46(3)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787,  the 
Commission is conferred on the power to adopt delegated acts  for a period of five years, 
starting from 24 May 2019, under:  

a)  Article  33(1):  to  establish  a  publicly  accessible  electronic  register  of  geographical 

indications of spirit drinks recognised under this scheme (‘the register’); 

b)  Article 33(2), fourth subparagraph: to lay down further detailed rules on the form and 

content of the register of geographical indications of spirit drinks; 

c)  Article 41(1)(a): to set out further conditions to be followed, including in cases where a 
geographical  area  includes  more  than  one  country,  in  respect  of  applications  for  the 
registration  of  a  geographical  indication,  as  referred  to  in  Articles  23  and  24  of  that 

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OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/787/oj.  
OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/110(1)/oj. 

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Regulation;  

d)  Article 41(1)(b): to set out further conditions to be followed, including in cases where a 
geographical  area  includes  more  than  one  country,  in  respect  of  preliminary  national 
procedures as referred to in Article 24 of that Regulation, scrutiny by the Commission, 
the opposition procedure, and the cancellation of geographical indications; 

e)   Article 41(2): to establish conditions and requirements for the procedure concerning the 
Union  amendments  and  standard  amendments,  including  temporary  amendments,  to 
product specifications as referred to in Article 31 of that Regulation.  

The  Commission  has  the  obligation  to  adopt  the  delegated  act  establishing  a  publicly 
accessible electronic register (Article 33(1)), by 8 June 2021.  

The Commission is required to draw up a report in respect of these delegations of powers 
not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power 
must be 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. 

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 entered into force on 24 April 2019. It was generally applicable 
as of 25 May 2021 but all the provisions concerning the geographical indications, with the 
exclusion  of  some  provisions  concerning  the  national  stage  of  the  registration  procedure 
(Article 24(4) third subparagraph and Article 24(5 to 7)), were applicable as of 8 June 2019. 

This report describes the Commission’s activity in the period starting from 8 June 2019. 

2. 

EXERCISE OF DELEGATION   

The  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  was  exercised  to  ensure  the  correct  and  efficient 
functioning of Regulation (EU) No 2019/787 and to ensure a smooth transition to the new 
scheme from Council Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.  

The  Commission  has  used  that  power  with  restraint,  by  adopting  one  regulation,  the 
Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2021/12353  of  12  May  2021  supplementing 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/787  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  rules 
concerning  applications  for  registration  of  geographical  indications  of  spirit  drinks, 
amendments to product specifications, cancellation of the registration and the register.   

Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  No  2021/1235  provides  for  specific  rules  on 
additional requirements for the single document (Article 2, Delegated power Article 41(1)(a) 
of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787),  Member  State’s  application  dossier  (Article  3,  Delegated 
power  Article  41(1)(a)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787),  admissibility  of  the  application 
(Article  4,  Delegated  power  Article  41(1)(b)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787),  national 
transitional  period  (Article  5,  Delegated  power  Article  41(1)(b)  of  Regulation  (EU) 

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OJ L 270, 29.7.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2021/1235/oj. 

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2019/787),  applications  for  Union  amendments  to  product  specifications  (Article  6, 
Delegated power Article 41(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787), admissibility of applications 
for approval of Union amendments (Article 7, Delegated power Article 41(2) of Regulation 
(EU) 2019/787), standard amendments to product specifications (Article 8, Delegated power 
Article  41(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787),  relationship  between  Union  and  standard 
amendments  (Article  9,  Delegated  power  Article  41(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787), 
temporary amendments to product specifications (Article 10, Delegated power Article 41(2) 
of Regulation (EU) 2019/787), cancellation procedure (Article 11, Delegated power Article 
41(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787), admissibility of cancellation requests (Article 12, 
Delegated power Article 41(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787), and register (Article 13, 
Delegated power Article 33(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787). 

During the preparation of the acts, experts designated by each Member State were consulted 
in the Expert Group for spirit drinks. The Commission ensured a simultaneous, timely and 
appropriate transmission of the relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the 
Council.  

The Commission adopted Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1235 on 12 May 
2021, respecting the deadline for the establishment of the Register of geographical indication 
in the spirit drinks sectors set out in Article 33(1). The adopted Delegated Regulation was 
then  notified  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to  allow  these  Institutions  to 
express objection within two months from the notification of the act.  

Neither  the  European  Parliament  nor  the  Council  issued  any  objection  to  the  Delegated 
Regulation. After  the  expiry  of  the  period,  the  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU) 
2021/1235 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 270 of 29 July 
2021 and entered into force on 1st of August 2021. 

3.  CURRENT SITUATION 

The  above-mentioned  Delegated  Regulation  has  satisfactorily  reached  the  objective  of 
supplementing and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/787 with rules necessary for its proper 
and efficient functioning. 

No  request  has  been  received  from  Member  States  as  to  delegated  powers  possibly  be 
additionally conferred to the Commission or substracted. There were no expectations raised 
for a change of the balance of powers set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/787. Likewise, no 
request  for  amendment  of  the  two  Delegated  Regulations  has  been  received  during  the 
period.  

The  process  of  progressive  harmonization  of  the  EU  procedural  and  protection  rules 
concerning the geographical indications in the agricultural sectors, of which Regulation (EU) 
2019/787  was  a  first  step,  was  then  completed  with  the  adoption  of  Regulation  (EU) 
2024/1143  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council4,  of  11  April  2024,  on 
geographical  indications  for  wine,  spirit  drinks  and  agricultural  products,  as  well  as 

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OJ L 2024/1143, 23.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1143/oj. 

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traditional  specialities  guaranteed  and  optional  quality  terms  for  agricultural  products, 
amending  Regulations  (EU)  No  1308/2013,  (EU)  2019/787  and  (EU)  2019/1753  and 
repealing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 establishes a single 
Union framework for geographical indications in all the agricultural sectors, i.e. for wine, 
spirit drinks and agricultural products, setting out a single set of protection and procedural 
rules applicable to the three sectors. It amended Regulation (EU) 2019/787 to the extent that 
the provisions on protection, procedures (for registration, amendments and cancellation of a 
geographical indication) and the register of the geographical indications of spirit drinks are 
now provided for only in Regulation (EU) 2024/1143. 

Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 repealed Article 33(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787.  

It  did  not  repeal  Article  41  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/787  because  this  legal  basis  was 
necessary to repeal Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2021/1235 in view of the 
adoption  of  a  new  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  supplementing  Regulation  (EU) 
2024/1143 generally applying to the three agricultural sectors.  

Therefore,  on  30  October  2024,  two  Commission  Delegated  Regulations  were  adopted: 
Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2025/275,  of  30  October  2024  supplementing 
Regulation  (EU)  2024/1143  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  rules 
concerning  the  registration  and  the  protection  of  geographical  indications,  traditional 
specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms and repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) 
No 664/2014 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/296, of 30 October 2024 
repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1235 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/787 
of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  rules  concerning  applications  for 
registration  of  geographical  indications  of  spirit  drinks,  amendments  to  product 
specifications, cancellation of the registration and the register.  

Provisions  on  the  procedures  for  registration,  amendment  and  cancellation  of  the 
geographical indications in the spirit drinks sector, which were in Commission Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  2021/1235  have  been  repealed  and  replaced  by  the  corresponding 
provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27. Provisions on the Register 
of the geographical indication in spirit drinks sector, which were in Commission Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  2021/1235  have  been  repealed  and  replaced  by  the  corresponding 
provisions  of  Commission  Implementing  Regulation  (EU)  2025/267  of  30  October  2024 
laying  down  rules  for  the  application  of  Regulation  (EU)  2024/1143  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  as  regards  registrations,  amendments,  cancellations, 
enforcement  of  the  protection,  labelling  and  communication  in  respect  of  geographical 
indications and traditional specialities guaranteed, and amending Implementing Regulation 
(EU)  2019/34  as  regards  geographical  indications  in  the  wine  sector,  and  repealing 
Implementing Regulations (EU) No 668/2014 and (EU) 2021/1236.  

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OJ L 2025/27, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/27/oj. 
OJ L 2025/29, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/29/oj. 
OJ L 2025/26, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/26/oj. 

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In  conclusion, Articles 31 of Regulation  (EU) 2019/787  has been repealed. Article 41 of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/787 is to be considered as obsolete as containing empowerments that 
will no longer be used because replaced by the corresponding empowerments in Regulation 
(EU)  2024/1143.  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  No  2021/1235,  which  was  the 
only delegated act adopted on the basis of the empowerments provided for in Article 46(3), 
was repealed. 

In  the  light  of  the  above,  no  further  use  of  the  empowerment  under  Articles  46(3)  of 
Regulation  (EU)  2019/787  empowering  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts  may  be 
envisaged by the Commission. 

For  these  reasons,  the  Commission  does  not  request  any  extension  of  the  delegation  of 
powers. 

4.  CONCLUSION 

In  the  period  covered  by  this  report,  the  Commission  exercised  the  delegated  powers 
conferred upon it by Articles 33(1), 33(2), 41(1)(a), 41(1)(b) and 41(2) of Regulation (EU) 
2019/787. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2021/1235 was adopted on the basis 
of  these  empowerments,  which  has  since  been  repealed  by  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2025/29. Article 33 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 has been repealed. Article 
41 is to be considered as obsolete. The Commission does not request any extension of the 
delegation of such powers and invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note 
of this report. 

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