CELEX: 51984PC0515(01)
Language: en
Date: 1984-09-12
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) AMENDING REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 337/79 ON THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET IN WINE

27.9.84                                Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 259/5
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 on the
                                       common organization of the market in wine
                                                     COM(84) 515 final
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984)
                                                       (84/C 259/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                       Whereas the structural surpluses which are currently
COMMUNITIES,                                                      a feature of the wine sector require that the
                                                                  Community's wine-growing potential be reduced;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                      whereas the said reduction may be secured, albeit
European Economic Community, and in particular                    gradually, by restricting the right to replant; whereas,
Article 43 thereof,                                               accordingly, the area which a grower is entitled to
                                                                  replant should, for a fairly lengthy period, be less
                                                                  than that of the vineyards which he has grubbed;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                whereas the extent of the restriction on the right to
                                                                  replant should vary according to the production
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                 potential of the land on which replanting is to take
liament,                                                          place;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  Whereas the measures to reduce wine-growing
Social Committee,                                                 potential should, in view of the size of the imbalance,
                                                                  be implemented at once; whereas, however, growers
                                                                  who are already entitled to replant could, if they
Whereas Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                  exercise their right in full, considerably delay and
337/79 of 5 February 1979 (') requires that a guide
                                                                  reduce the effects of this measure in view of the total
price be fixed for each type of table wine and lays
                                                                  area and the period concerned; whereas the right to
down the criteria concerned; whereas, in order to
                                                                  replant which was granted to such owners should
prevent a further rise in production which could
                                                                  therefore also be covered by the scheme;
increase the present imbalance on the market in wine,
provision should be made for not increasing the guide
prices in cases where the quantity of wine distilled
                                                                  Whereas, concerning the transfer of the right to
under a distillation measure for table wine exceeds
                                                                  replant, provision should be made whereby producers
the equivalent of about 10 % of Community
                                                                  of wines which have the best outlets would not have
production, thus resulting in major surpluses the rise
                                                                  to reduce the wine-growing area which they cultivate;
of which should not be encouraged;
Whereas the use of musts in grape-juice production                Whereas restricting the right to replant could result in
helps to reduce expenditure in respect of the                     a future loss of income for the grower which it would
distillation of wine surpluses; whereas the use of such           be fair to offset by means of compensation; whereas
musts could be boosted by an effective scheme to                  the difference between the percentage reductions in
promote the consumption of grape juice; whereas,                  the right to replant is, on average, offset by the
therefore, the aid provided for in Article 14 of Regu-            difference in yields of the areas concerned; whereas
lation (EEC) N o 337/79 should^ for a number of                   the amount of compensation required should
wine years, be used partly to finance such schemes;               therefore be fixed at a standard rate;
whereas provision should accordingly be made for
allowing the aid to be fixed at a higher level;
                                                                  Whereas Regulation (EEC) N o 337/79 allows wine
                                                                  to be enriched by means of sucrose and provides, in
                                                                  order to offset the higher cost of enrichment by
O O J N o L 5 4 , 5. 3. 1979, p. 1.                               means of concentrated grape must and rectified
 ---pagebreak--- No C 259/6                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               27.9. 84
concentrated grape must, for the granting of aid for           3. The following paragraph is inserted in Article 14a:
the use of those products; whereas, in accordance
with the guidelines set out in the action programme               '3a.     During the wine years 1985/86 to 1989/90,
(1979 to 1985) on the progressive establishment of                recipients of the aid referred to in the first indent
balance on the market in wine, the Commission                     of paragraph 1 shall contribute a part thereof to be
presented to the Council a proposal to abolish, from              determined towards the organization of campaigns
the 1989/90 wine year onwards; both the use of                    to promote the consumption of grape juice. The
sucrose for enriching wines and the aids referred to              amount of the aid may, for the purposes of
above; whereas, in order to ensure that the abolition             organizing such campaigns, be fixed at a higher
is gradual, the aid for the use of concentrated musts             level than that resulting from the application of
and rectified concentrated musts should be decreased              paragraph 3.'
over a number of wine years and the economic
advantage to producers who are authorized to use               4. The following paragraph is inserted in Article 30a:
sucrose should be removed by means of a tax;
whereas, however, in order to avoid major                         '3a.     By way of derogation from the preceding
administrative complications, the tax should apply                paragraphs, the right to replant may, during the
solely to wine from holdings which, since they                    wine years 1985/86 to 1994/95, be exercized only
produce very high yields per hectare, normally enrich             on an area equivalent in terms of pure crop to:
a large proportion of their produce;
                                                                  — 50 % of the area where the grubbing was
                                                                       carried out, in cases where the area of
Whereas Article 32 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79                       replanting is covered by an irrigation scheme
lays down the maximum increase in the natural                          or is equipped with independent irrigation
alcoholic strength of products intended for wine-                      facilities which tap the ground water
making; whereas the fact that the said limits do not              — 70 % of the area where the grubbing was
include a reference to the yield per hectare gives a                   carried out in, in all other cases.
competitive advantage to growers who produce the
highest yields and, in many cases, grapes of poor                 During that period, the replanting right may be
quality and therefore leads to a dangerous increase in            transferred to other holdings, provided the area on
production; whereas, in order to prevent such an                  which it is to be exercized is classified, in
increase, the quantity of sucrose which may be used               accordance with Articles 29 and 29a, in the same
should be subject to a maximum per hectare of                     category as that in which the grubbing was carried
vineyard under cultivation,                                       out or in a higher category. The replanting right
                                                                  may not, however, be transferred to areas
                                                                  classified in category 3.
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                                                  Holders of replanting rights shall, at their request,
                                                                  be granted compensation if their right to replant is
                        Article 1                                 restricted pursuant to the first paragraph of this
                                                                  Article.
Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 is hereby amended as
follows:                                                          The compensation shall be paid by the competent
                                                                  authorities of the Member States when the said
                                                                  rights are exercized. The amount per hectare of
1. The following subparagraph is added to Article                 vineyard grubbed shall be:
   2(2):                                                          — 1 500 ECU in the case of replanting rights
                                                                       acquired prior to 31 August 1985, and
    'The guide price for a wine year may, however,                — 1 000 ECU in the case of all other rights.
    exceed that fixed for the preceding wine year only
    if the average annual quantity of wine distilled              The compensation referred to in the above
    pursuant to Articles 11, 12a, 15 and 41 during the            paragraph shall be chargeable to the Guarantee
    three preceding wine years is less than 12 million            Fund of the EAGGF.'
    hectolitres.'
                                                               5. The following        subparagraphs     are added   to
                                                                  Article 33 (3):
2. The following subparagraph is added to Article
    14(3):                                                        'Without prejudice to the limits laid down in
                                                                  Article 32, Member States shall specify the
    'For the 1985/86, 1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89                maximum quantity of sucrose which may be used
   wine years, the aid shall be 80 °/o, 60 %, 40 °/o and          per hectare of vines under cultivation during the
    20 % respectively of that difference.'                        period when the use of sucrose is allowed.
 ---pagebreak--- 27.9. 84                               Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 259/7
    The maximum quantities laid down may differ by                    by means of musts for which the aid referred to in
    region of production and by variety and may in no                 Article 14 was paid.
    case exceed 300 kg per hectare.'
                                                                      3.    The proceeds of the tax referred to in
                                                                      paragraph 1 shall be used to finance Community
6. The following Article 33a is inserted:                             expenditure in the wine sector.
     'Article 33a                                                     4.    The amount of the tax referred to in
                                                                      paragraph 1 shall be fixed in accordance with the
    1.     In wine-growing regions where the addition                 procedure laid down in Article 67. Detailed rules
    of sucrose is authorized in accordance with                       for the application of this Article shall be adopted
    Article 33, a tax shall be levied in respect of wines             in accordance with the same procedure.'
    produced on holdings where the yield per hectare
    exceeds 80 hectolitres. The tax shall be levied
                                                                                           Article 2
    when the wine is sold for the first time, including
    when it is delivered for the purpose of distillation.         This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 September
                                                                  1985.
    2.     The amount of the tax shall be fixed in the
    light of the difference between the cost of                   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
    enrichment by means of sucrose and that obtained              directly applicable in all Member States.
                Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 laying down
                         special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions
                                                     COM(84) 515 final
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 September 1984)
                                                       (84/C 259/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                       lasting prospects of finding a market may be
COMMUNITIES,                                                      recognized as quality wines psr and by making
                                                                  recognition of such wines subject to a Community
                                                                  authorization procedure;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular
Article 43 thereof,
                                                                  Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 does not
                                                                  include rectified concentrated grape must among the
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                products which may be used for sweetening quality
                                                                  wines psr; whereas the present state of scientific
                                                                  knowledge suggests that it can be used for this
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                 purpose;
liament,
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 338/79 of                     Whereas Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) N o 338/79
5 February 1979 laying down special provisions                    provides that Member States are to fix a maximum
relating to quality wines produced in specified                   yield per hectare for quality wines psr and to
regions (*), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No               determine the conditions on which these yields may
3159/83 (2), sets out criteria for the recognition of             be exceeded; whereas the application of this provision
wines by the Member States as quality wines                       by some Member States has led to the yields
produced in specified regions; whereas, in view of the            compatible with a product of best quality being
growing surpluses on the wine market and the                      exceeded, with the attendant likelihood that such
pressures exerted on the market by quality wines psr,             wines will be increasingly difficult to market; whereas
the said criteria should be supplemented by                       these considerations make it essential to fix maximum
the        provision     that      only     wines      with       yields per hectare applicable throughout the
                                                                   Community and to define precisely the conditions on
(') OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 48.                                which the designation of a quality wine psr can be
O OJ No L 309, 10. 11. 1983, p. 21.                                recognized when the maximum yield is exceeded;