CELEX: 51983PC0470
Language: en
Date: 1983-07-14
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET IN ETHYL ALCOHOL OF AGRICULTURAL ORIGIN

10.8.83                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 214/7
                                                            II
                                                    (Preparatory Acts)
                                              COMMISSION
              Amendment to the proposal for a Council Regulation on the common organization of the
                                     market in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to Article 149 (2) of the EEC Treaty
                                                     on 25 July 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     particular by the fact that overall production is in
COMMUNITIES,                                                    excess of Community consumption; whereas it is
                                                                necessary to maintain prices on this market at a level
                                                                which is competitive with world prices; whereas,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
                                                                therefore, measures should be adopted to stabilize the
European Economic Community, and in particular
                                                                market and ensure a fair income for the producers
Articles 42, 43 and 235 thereof,
                                                                concerned;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                Whereas, to this end, it is necessary for measures to
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-               be taken to facilitate the adaptation of supply to
liament,                                                        market requirements and for a subsidy to be granted
                                                                to replace all national forms of production aid;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                whereas, in view of the factors characterizing the
Social Committee,                                               production of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin,
                                                                provision should be made for this subsidy to be
                                                                granted at a fixed rate per hectolitre;
Whereas the operation and development of the
common market in agricultural products must be
accompanied by the establishment of a common agri-
cultural policy, including a common organization of             Whereas provision should be made to allow the
agricultural markets which may take various forms               production of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin to
depending on the product;                                       be maintained at a level which corresponds to agri-
                                                                cultural, economic and social requirements; whereas
                                                                excess production of this alcohol which would run
Whereas the conversion of certain agricultural raw
                                                                counter to the establishment of a balance between
materials into ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin is
                                                                production and possible uses should be prohibited;
closely linked with the economy of those raw
                                                                whereas the amount of production subsidized should
materials since it largely contributes to the realization
                                                                therefore be limited; whereas this amount should be
of their value; whereas this process may be of
                                                                adapted in the light of the abovementioned
particular economic and social importance for the
                                                                requirements and of the possibilities for use;
economy of certain regions of the Community, or it
may be a major source of income for producers of
certain agricultural raw materials; whereas in other
cases it enables products of unsatisfactory quality to
be disposed of, and also the short-term or permanent            Whereas, so that Community producers and users of
surpluses of certain products which cause serious               alcohol may make at least medium-term forecasts, the
economic problems; whereas, lastly, in the case of              limited quantity for which a market is guaranteed
certain products it is the only means of realizing their        should be programmed; whereas, for that purpose,
value;                                                          this quantity should first of all be apportioned among
                                                                the different alcohol-producing agricultural products
                                                                and then among the Community producer under-
Whereas the aim of the common agricultural policy is            takings; whereas provision should be made for these
to achieve the objectives specified in Article 39 of the        mechanisms to be applied with a certain degree of
Treaty; whereas the situation of the market in ethyl            flexibility, especially as regards alcohol obtained in
alcohol of agricultural origin is characterized in              connection with the intervention measures laid down
 ---pagebreak---  No C 214/8                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                      10.8.83
in the Regulations on the common organization of                 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
the market in wine and on the common organization
of the market in fruit and vegetables;                                                      Article 1
                                                                                        Products covered
Whereas, to the extent required by the situation on               1.    This Regulation shall apply to the following
the Community market, provision should be made for               products:
prohibiting     recourse     to     inward      processing
arrangements;                                                      CCT heading
                                                                                                     Description
                                                                        No
                                                                 22.08 A I        Denatured ethyl alcohol of any strength, of
Whereas the effectiveness of all the measures                                     agricultural origin
governing the common organization of the market in
ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin would be                    22.08 B I        Undenatured ethyl alcohol of a strength of
jeopardized by the granting of certain kinds of aid by                            80° or higher, of agricultural origin
certain Member States; whereas the provisions of the             22.09 A I        Undenatured ethyl alcohol of a strength of
Treaty which allow the assessment of aid granted by                               less than 80°, of agricultural origin
Member States and the prohibition of aid which is
incompatible with the common market should be                    2.     This Regulation establishes in respect of the
made applicable to ethyl alcohol of agricultural                 products specified in paragraph 1:
origin;
                                                                 — a common organization of the market in ethyl
                                                                      alcohol of agricultural origin,
Whereas certain transitional measures may prove                  — rules supplementing the provisions applicable to
necessary to facilitate the transition from the present               some of these products in connection with the
arrangements to the system arising from this Regu-                    respective common organizations of the market in
lation and the transition from one marketing year to                  fruit and vegetables and in wine.
the next; whereas provision should therefore be made
                                                                 3.     For the purposes of this Regulation, 'ethyl
for the adoption of such measures;
                                                                 alcohol of agricultural origin' means the liquid
                                                                 obtained by distillation, after alcoholic fermentation,
                                                                 from       alcohol-producing        agricultural      products,
Whereas the Treaty does not specifically provide the             excluding spirituous beverages as defined in Regu-
powers necessary to enable the measures concerning               lation (EEC) No . . . O-
the reservation of sectors of utilization to be taken
within the same legal framework as that on which the             4.     For the purposes of this Regulation, 'alcohol-
common oganization of the market in ethyl alcohol                producing agricultural products' means the products
of agricultural origin is based; whereas those                   falling within Chapters 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 23 and
measures must consequently be taken on the basis of              headings Nos 17.01, 17.02, 17.03, 17.05, 22.04, 22.05
Article 235 of the Treaty;                                       and 22.07 of the Common Customs Tariff.
                                                                 The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
                                                                 proposal from the Commission, may alter the list of
Whereas the common organization of the market in                 chapters and headings of the Common Customs
ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin must take appro-            Tariff referred to in the preceding subparagraph,
priate and simultaneous account of the objectives set            subject to the limits laid down in Annex II to the
out in Articles 39 and 110 of the Treaty;                        Treaty.
                                                                                            Article 2
Whereas, in order to facilitate implementation of the
                                                                 The marketing year for ethyl alcohol of agricultural
proposed measures, a procedure should be provided
                                                                 origin shall begin on 1 July each year and end on
for establishing close cooperation between Member
                                                                 30 June of the following year.
States and the Commission within a Management
Committee;
                                                                                            Article 3
                                                                 1.     Under the conditions laid down in paragraph 4,
Whereas it should be laid down that financial                    a fixed-rate subsidy shall be granted for the
responsiblity for the expenditure incurred by Member             production of the products specified in Article 1 (1)
States as a result of their obligations under this Regu-
lation should be borne by the Community, in                      (') See the proposal from the Commission to the Council on
accordance with the regulations governing the                        the definition of spirituous beverages (COM(82) 328
financing of the common agricultural policy,                         final — OJ No C 189, 23. 7. 1982, p. 7).
 ---pagebreak--- 10.8.83                              Official Journal of the European Communities                          N o C 214/9
and obtained from the following alcohol-producing               4.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article
agricultural products harvested in the Community:               shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
                                                                laid down in Article 35.
sugar beet
cereals
potatoes                                                                                Article 5
fruit
sugar cane.                                                                   Apportionment among distillers
                                                                1.    The quantities referred to in Article lc (1) shall
2.    The amount of the subsidy shall be fixed per              be apportioned among Community distillers.
hectolitre of ethyl alcohol at 100 % vol in such a way
as to guarantee a fair income for the agricultural
producer, taking into account the present situation             2.    The apportionment among Community distillers
and foreseeable trends on the market.                           shall be done before 1 November each year for the
                                                                following marketing year in accordance with the
3.    The amount of the subsidy shall be varied on              procedure laid down in Article 35, taking account of
the basis of the alcohol-producing agricultural                 the distillers' average production during the last five
product used. The amount of the subsidy shall be                marketing years.
uniform for each of these alcohol-producing agri-
cultural products throughout the Community. It may
be varied on the basis of the quality of the alcohol            3.    The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
obtained and of the size of the distillery.                     proposal from the Commission, shall adopt general
                                                                rules     concerning    the    apportionment     among
4.    The amount of the subsidy shall be fixed in               Community distillers, taking into account
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
43 (2) of the Treaty. It shall be fixed before 1 July           — the need to reserve a share of production for new
each year for the following crop year. The Council                  distillers, and
shall ensure that the subsidy thus fixed does not result
in unacceptable distortions of competition as between
                                                                — the possibility of transferring all or part of the
the different agricultural alcohols produced in the
                                                                    production of one distiller to another or from one
Community.
                                                                    marketing year to another.
5.    The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
proposal from the Commission, shall adopt general               4.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article
rules for the application of this Article.                      shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
                                                                laid down in Article 35.
6.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 35.                                                                Article 6
                                                                The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
                        Article 4                               proposal from the Commission, shall adopt general
                                                                rules to which Community distillers must conform in
1.    For each of the alcohol-producing raw materials
                                                                their relations with producers of alcohol-producing
specified in Article lb 1), the subsidy shall be granted
                                                                agricultural products.
for a limited quantity of ethyl alcohol of agricultural
origin.
                                                                                        Article 7
2.    The quantities referred to in the preceding
paragraph shall be determined by reference to:                           Measures to safeguard molasses alcohol
— average production during the last five known                 1.    If the molasses alcohol market in the
     marketing years, and                                       Community is disrupted or threatened with disruption
                                                                by competition from other types of alcohol, parti-
— possible production outlets.                                  cularly non-agricultural alcohols, suitable measures,
                                                                including temporary aid, may be applied to this
To this end, the Commission shall each year submit a            alcohol until the disruption or threat of disruption is
report to the Council to enable it to assess these              no longer present.
factors and likely trends.
3.    The quantities referred to in paragraph 1 shall           2.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article
be fixed in accordance with the procedure laid down             shall be decided upon in accordance with the
in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty.                                procedure laid down in Article 35.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 214/10                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                10.8.83
                        Article 8                              2.    If the situation mentioned in paragraph 1 arises,
                                                               the Commission shall, at the request of a Member
      Amendment of the Common Customs Tariff                   State or on its own initiative, decide upon the
The Common Customs Tariff              is  amended     in      necessary measures; the measures shall be notified to
accordance with the Annex.                                     the Member States and shall be immediately
                                                               applicable. If the Commission receives a request from
                                                               a Member State, it shall take a decision thereon
                        Article 9                              within 24 hours following receipt of the request.
      Application of the Common Customs Tariff
1.    The general rules for the interpretation of the          3.    The Commission Decision may be referred to
Common Customs Tariff and its special rules for its            the Council by any Member State within three
application shall apply to the tariff classification of        working days following the day on which it was
the products specified in Article 1 (1); the tariff            communicated. The Council shall meet without delay.
nomenclature resulting from the application of this            It may, acting by a qualified majority, amend or
Regulation to these products shall be incorporated in          repeal the measure in question.
the Common Customs Tariff.
2.    Save as otherwise provided in this Regulation or                                 Article 12
by the Council acting by a qualified majority on a
proposal from the Commission, the following shall be                                      Aid
prohibited in trade with third countries in the                Save as otherwise provided in this Regulation,
products referred to in Article 1 (1):                         Articles 92 to 94 of the Treaty shall apply to the
                                                               production of and trade in ethyl alcohol of agri-
— the levying of any charge having effect equivalent           cultural origin.
    to a customs duty,
— the application of any quantitative restriction or                                   Article 13
    measure having equivalent effect.
                                                               The regulations governing the financing of the
                                                               common agricultural policy shall apply to the market
                        Article 10                             for the products specified in Article 1(1).
     Prohibition of inward processing arrangements
To the extent necessary for the proper working of the                                  Article 14
common organization of the market in ethyl alcohol
of agricultural origin, the Council, acting by a                                    Exclusive rights
qualified majority on a proposal from the
                                                               Provisions which grant to certain natural or legal
Commission, may prohibit in whole or in part the
                                                               persons or which restrict to nationals of one Member
application of inward processing arrangements in
                                                               State the exclusive right to produce, package,
respect of all or some of the products specified in
                                                               transport, store, refine, import, export, purchase, sell
Article 1 (1).
                                                               or otherwise market ethyl alcohol of agricultural
                                                               origin shall be incompatible with this Regulation.
                        Article 11
 1.   If the Community market in the products
specified in Article 1 (1) experiences or is threatened,                               Article U
by reason of imports or exports of those products,                   Establishment of a Management Committee
with serious disturbances which may endanger the
objectives set out in Article 39 of the Treaty, appro-         1.    A Management Committee for Ethyl Alcohol of
priate measures may be applied to those products in            Agricultural     Origin     (hereinafter   called    'the
trade with third countries until such disturbance or           Committee') shall be established, consisting of repres-
threat of disturbance has ceased.                              entatives of Member States and presided over by a
                                                               representative of the Commission.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
proposal from the Commission, shall adopt rules for
the application of this paragraph and define the cases         2.    Within the Committee, the votes of Member
in which and the limits within which the Member                States shall be weighted in accordance with Article
States may take interim protective measures.                    148 (2) of the Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
 ---pagebreak--- 10.8.83                             Official Journal of the European Communities                           N o C 214/11
                        Article 16                                                      Article 20
        Procedure of the Management Committee                                           Objectives
1.    Where reference is made to the procedure laid            This Regulation shall be so applied that appropriate
down in this Article, the chairman shall refer the             and simultaneous account is taken of the objectives
matter to the Committee either on his own initiative           set out in Articles 39 and 110 of the Treaty.
or at the request of the represenatative of a Member
State.                                                                                  Article 21
2.     The representative of the Commission shall                                 Transitional measures
submit a draft of the measures to be taken. The
Committee shall deliver its opinion on such measures           Should transitional measures be necessary to facilitate
within a time limit to be set by the chairman                  the transition from the existing system to the system
according to the urgency of the questions under                established by this Regulation, in particular if the
consideration. Opinions shall be adopted by a                  introduction of the new system on the date provided
majority of 45 votes.                                          for would give rise to substantial difficulties in respect
                                                               of certain products, such measures shall be adopted in
3.     The Commission shall adopt measures which               accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
shall apply immediately. However, if these measures            35.
are not in accordance with the opinion of the
Committee, they shall forthwith be communicated by             They shall be applicable until 30 June 1985 at the
the Commission to the Council. In that event the               latest.
Commission may defer application of the measures
which it has adopted for not more than one month                                        Article 22
from the date of such communication.
                                                               Before the end of the third marketing year for which
The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take          this Regulation is in operation, the Commission shall
a different decision within one month.                         put a report before the Council analyzing the
                                                               production structure for agricultural alcohol in the
                        Article 17                             Community. This report shall also cover the
       Other tasks of the Management Committee                 application of this Regulation. On the basis of that
                                                               report, the Council may adopt, in accordance with
The Committee may consider any other question                  the procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the
referred to it by its chairman either on his own               Treaty, a plan for structural reorganization in this
initiative or at the request of the representative of a        sector.
Member State.
                                                               If necessary, the Council shall also adopt the
                        Article 18                             amendments to this Regulation required to take
                                                               account of the experience gained and of changing
            Communication and information
                                                               economic conditions in this sector, and in particular
Member       States    and     the  Commission      shall      the production pattern in agricultural alcohol
communciate to each other the information necessary            qualifying for Community aid and the pattern of
for applying this Regulation. Detailed rules for the           utilization in the two reserved sectors.
communication and distribution of such information
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure                                       Article 23
laid down in Article 35.
                                                                                     Entry into force
                         Article 19                            This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January
                         Research                               1984.
The necessary measures to encourage the search for              It shall take effect on 1 July 1984.
 new outlets for ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
 shall be taken in accordance with the procedure laid          This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
 down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty.                          directly applicable in all Member States.