CELEX: 51985PC0151
Language: en
Date: 1985-04-19
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE CONCERNING THE HARMONIZATION OF EXCISE DUTIES ON FORTIFIED WINE AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS

8. 5. 85                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 114/7
 beer belonging to the most-sold beer category on the                                           Article 6
 markets of those Member States does not exceed the
 ratio obtained by comparing the alcoholic strengths of               1.    The Council, acting on a proposal from the
 the two beverages.                                                   Commission, shall, before 1 January 1989, fix by
                                                                      decision the date by which each Member State shall
 2.     For the purposes of this Directive, beer is as                apply a single rate of value added tax to all alcoholic
 defined in Article 2 of Council Directive . . . of . . .             drinks.
 concerning the harmonization of excise duties on beer.
                                                                      2.    Pending the Council decision referred to in
 3.     For the purpose of establishing the ratio obtained
                                                                      paragraph 1, those Member States which, on the date of
 by comparing the alcoholic strength of still wine and that
                                                                      implementation of this Directive:
 of the most-sold category of beer, the alcoholic strength
 of still wine is considered to be 11 % by volume for all              (i) apply a single rate of value added tax to all alcoholic,
 Member States.                                                            drinks shall continue to do so;
                           Article 3                                  (ii) apply more than one rate of value added tax to
 1.     Within a Member State, the same rate of value                      alcoholic drinks may not introduce additional rates
 added tax provided for in Council Directive 67/227/                       and may only change the existing rates without in-
 EEC (l) shall apply to still wine and to beer.                            creasing the absolute difference between the highest
                                                                           and lowest rates applied to any alcoholic drink.
 2.     By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the Grand
 Duchy of Luxembourg shall be authorized, to the extent
 that it does not apply the same rate of value added tax to                                     Article 7
 still wine and to beer on the date of implementation of              1.    Member States shall bring into force, not later than
 this Directive, to postpone doing so until 1 January 1987.           1 January 1986, the laws, regulations and administrative
                                                                     provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They
                           Article 4                                 shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
Within a Member State, the same rate of value added tax
 shall apply to all alcoholic drinks falling within the scope        2.     Member States shall communicate to the
 of Council Directive . . . of . . . concerning the harmon-          Commission the texts of the main provisions of national
 ization of excise duties on alcohol.                                law which they adopt in the field governed by this
                                                                     Directive.
                           Article 5
                                                                                                Article 8
Within a Member State, the same rate of value added tax
 shall apply to all alcoholic drinks falling within the scope         The French Republic shall be authorized not to
 of Council Directive . . . of . . . concerning the harmon-           implement the provisions of this Directive in the French
ization of excise duties on fortified wine and similar                overseas departments.
products.
                                                                                                Article 9
 O OJ No 71, 14. 4. 1967, p. 1301/67.                                 This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
               Proposal for a Council Directive concerning the harmonization of excise duties on fortified wine
                                                       and similar products
                                                        COM(85) 151 final
                                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 24 April 1985)
                                                          (85/C 114/09)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                     Social Committee,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 99 and
100 thereof,                                                         Whereas the creation of a common market with charac-
                                                                     teristics similar to those of an internal market implies
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   that the conditions of competition should not be
                                                                     distorted, and that persons, goods, services and capital
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                    may move about within it without hindrance of any
liament,                                                             kind;
 ---pagebreak--- No C I 14/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                          8.5.85
Whereas the excise duties that are levied on the                   other taxation does not give rise, in trade between
consumption of fortified wine and similar products                 Member States, to either taxes on imports and tax
(hereinafter called 'intermediate products') are not               rebates on exports or border controls;
always neutral from the point of view of competition;
whereas the differences in tax burdens resulting from              Whereas it is important to guarantee the coordinated
them from one Member State to another make it                      application of the provisions of this Directive; whereas it
necessary to maintain taxes on imports and tax rebates             is therefore essential to provide for an effective
on exports and border controls;                                    procedure which, whenever necessary, can enable the
                                                                   necessary implementing measures to be adopted; whereas
                                                                   the procedure of the Committee on Excise Duties laid
Whereas this situation constitutes a barrier to the free
                                                                   down by Council Decision . . . of . . . is such that such
movement of intermediate products between Member
                                                                   measures can be adopted simply and rapidly;
States and contributes to distorting competition; whereas
it is therefore necessary to eliminate these obstacles;
                                                                   Whereas France should be authorized not to apply the
                                                                   provisions of this Directive in its overseas departments,
Whereas free movement between Member States and a                  in view of the special situation of those territories,
system ensuring that the conditions of competition are
not distorted can only be achieved by means of the
harmonization at Community level of excise duties                  HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
which are levied on the consumption of intermediate
products; whereas, however, it is advisable to proceed                                    I. Field of application
gradually and to bring harmonization to bear at first
mainly on the structure of these excise duties;                                                   Article 1
                                                                   Member States shall apply an excise duty to fortified
Whereas all intermediate products are based either on              wine      and       similar     products,    hereinafter     called
wine from fresh grapes or on other fermented beverages,            'intermediate products', in accordance with the
and the excise duties — if any — on those intermediate             provisions of this Directive.
products are in all Member States lower than the excise
duties on alcohol; whereas, in order to take into account
                                                                                                  Article 2
the fact that a large amount of the alcohol contained in
intermediate products is natural fermented alcohol, the            For the purposes of this Directive
rate of excise duty applicable to these products must be
reduced compared with the excise duties levied on spirits          1. 'intermediate products' means:
or distilled alcohol;
                                                                       (a) all products falling within heading N o 22.05 of
                                                                            the Common Customs Tariff with an actual
Whereas, in order to ensure neutral taxation, all
                                                                            alcoholic strength not exceeding 22 % by volume,
intermediate products must be liable to the excise duty;
                                                                           with the exception of:
whereas the same rate structure shall be applied
uniformly to all intermediate products within each                         — table wines with a total alcoholic strength of
Member State;                                                                   more than 15 % but not more than 17 % by
                                                                                volume, obtained without enrichment and
                                                                                containing no residual sugar, harvested from
Whereas it appears appropriate that France be auth-
                                                                                the      wine-growing        areas    specified      in
orized to continue levying a lower excise duty on some
                                                                                Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2319/
quality liqueur wines produced under particularly
                                                                                74 O ,
difficult conditions provided that it applies the same
lower duty to similar liqueur wines produced under                         — wines with a total alcoholic strength of more
particularly difficult conditions in other Member States;                       than 15 % by volume and the characteristics
                                                                                of quality wines produced in specified regions
                                                                                as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No
Whereas, in order to ensure the correct levying of the                          338/79 (2), which have not the characteristics
tax, control of the production, holding and movement of                         of liqueur wines as defined in point 12 of
intermediate products is necessary;                                             Annex II to Council Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                                337/79 (3),
Whereas, in order to ensure equal conditions of                            — other products falling within heading No
competition at Community level, the methods of levying                          22.05 of the Common Customs Tariff with an
and controlling the excise duty must be harmonized as                           actual alcoholic strength not exceeding 12 %
much as necessary between the Member States;                                    by volume or a total alcoholic strength not
                                                                                exceeding 15 °/o by volume;
Whereas to prevent this harmonization from being
jeopardized, the Member States should not be auth-
orized to subject intermediate products directly or                O OJ No L 248, 11. 9. 1974, p. 7.
indirectly to any indirect taxation other than the                 (2) OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 48.
harmonized excise duty and value added tax, unless such            (3) O J N o L 5 4 , 5. 4. 1979, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---  ^ . ^                                                      Official journal of the European communities                                                        ^oCtntB^
    d^ all products falling within heading l^o 22.OD of                                2.        By way of derogation from paragraph t r^d^ the
          the common customs tariff with an actual                                     kingdom of POenmark shall be authori^ied^ until ^U
          alcoholic strength not e^ceeding22^Bohy volume                               POecember t^B^ a t t h e l a t e s t ^ f o r t h e p u r p o s e s of calcu^
          and containing at least Bu^Bo hy volume of                                   lating the maximum and minimum limits^ to use as
          products falling under heading ^lo 22.0^ of the                              referenceratethespecifice^cisedutyleviedon alcohols
          Common Customs Tariff however^ for dry                                       increased by the percentage rate of t h e ^ ^ A ^ r ^ excise
          aromatized wines^ as well as for certain sweet                               duty.
          aromatized wines to he determined^ this pro
          portion is reduced to ^ 0 ^
    ^     all products falling within heading l^lo 22.0B^ of                            t       By way of derogation from Article ^ the French
          the Common Customs Tariff with an actual                                     Republic shall be authorised to subject certain quality
          alcoholic strengthe^ceeding t2^Bohy volume hut                               liqueur wines as defined in the A n n e ^ t o a r a t e of excise
          not exceeding 22 ^Bo hy volume and with a total                              duty lower than the rate determined by the application
          alcoholic strength exceeding t ^ B o h y volume and                          of that Article, rdowever^ with effect from t ]anuary
          satisfying one of the following conditions^                                   t ^ ^ this rate^ when related to the volume of pure
           ^   the added distilled alcohol shall he less than                          alcohol contained in such a liqueur wine^ must not be
               ^O^Bo of the actual alcoholic strength hy                               less than 20 ^Boof the full rate of excise duty on alcohol
               volume of the final products                                            which would apply to the same volume of pure alcohol.
          ^    a total alcoholicstrength of at least B^^Bo hy
               v o l u m e i n t h e f i n a l p r o d u c t must he obtained          2.       For the purpose of applying the provisions of
               hy natural fermentation.                                                p a r a g r a p h p t h e quality liqueur wines referred to therein
                                                                                       shall be deemed to include quality liqueur wines
                                                                                       produced in specified regions of the Community which
2. factual alcoholic strength hy volumes and ^total
                                                                                       fulfils i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e c o n d i t i o n s l a i d d o w n b y R e g u D
    alcoholic strength hyvolume^are as defined in Anne^
                                                                                       l a t i o n r ^ E E C ^ o ^ ^ B ^ the following conditions only^
    I t o Regulation ^ E E C ^ o 3 ^ B ^
                                                                                       they must be
                    IP Estah^shn^en^oft^ed^ty
                                                                                       ^      directly prepared by producers utilising their wine
                                                                                              harvest of which at least ^O^Bo must derive from
 t.     The excise duty levied hy a member ^tate on                                           aromatic vine varieties^
intermediate products shall comply with the following
rules^                                                                                 tl^ derivedfromvineyards whose y i e l d d o e s n o t exceed
                                                                                              ^0 hectolitres per hectare in productions
e^ the duty rate shall be fneed by reference to the
     volume of the products                                                            ^      the product of musts registering an initial natural
                                                                                              sugar richness of at least 2^2 grams per litres
^     the same rate structure shall be applied to all
      intermediate products referred to in Article 2. The                              ^      o b t a i n e d t o t h e e ^ c l u s i o n o f a l l o t h e r enrichment by
      duty shall be specific and shall be expressed in terms                                  the addition of wine^derived alcohol corresponding
      of either                                                                               in pure alcohol to not less that ^Bo per volume of
        ^   volume of the intermediate products or                                            the musts used and not more than the smaller of the
       ^    actual alcoholic strength by volume of the                                        two following ratios^either
            intermediate product at the time it is delivered                                 — tO^Bo per volume of the musts used^ or
            for consumptions or                                                              — ^O^Bo of the total alcoholic strength by volume of
      ^     a combination o f ^ a n d ^ i i ^                                                       the finished product represented by the sum of
                                                                                                   the actual alcoholic strength and the equivalent
r^m ^i^h the exception of the products referred to in                                               of the potential alcoholic strength calculated on
     Article ^ the total excise duty burden shall be the                                            the basis of t^Bopure alcohol by volume for each
      same for all intermediate products having the same                                            P ^ grams of residual sugar per litre.
      actual alcoholic strength by volumes
                                                                                       ^.       (On importation into France of the quality liqueur
^    the total excise duty burden on a determined                                      wines referred to in paragraph 2^ proof must be
     quantity of an intermediate product^when related to                               produced that these wines fulfil the conditions laid down
     the quantity of pure ethyl alcohol contained in the                               for the applicationof the reduced rate. For this purposed
     products shall be not less than 20 ^Bo and not more                               a certificate from the competent authorities of the
     than De^Bo of the full rate of the excise duty on                                 member ^tate in which they were produced must be
     alcohol which would a p p l y o n t h e s a m e q u a n t i t y o f               provided. This certificate must contain precise particulars
     pure alcohol.                                                                     relating to the conditions in paragraph 2.
 ---pagebreak---  N o C 114/10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                     8.5.85
                           Article 5                                  (c) bottling or other filling procedures.
 1.     Without prejudice to other Community provisions,
 the following provisions shall apply for the purposes of             2.    The manufacture, outside a warehouse under fiscal
 exemption from the excise duty applied to the products               control, of intermediate products from components on
 covered by this Directive.                                           which excise duty has been paid, may be authorized if
                                                                      the excise duty on the finished intermediate product
                                                                     would not exceed the excise duty paid on the
 2.    The products covered by this Directive shall be
                                                                      components.
 exempt from excise duty:
 (a) when used, under fiscal supervision, in the manu-                3.    Member States may require a guarantee to be
      facture of any other product subject to another                 provided by any person wishing to carry out one or
      excise duty;                                                    more of the operations referred to in paragraph 1. They
                                                                      may also impose additional conditions, provided that
 (b) when exported, under fiscal supervision, from a                  these apply in like manner to national and imported
     production plant or a fiscal warehouse;                         products.
 (c) when used, inside or outside the production plant or                                        Article 7
     fiscal warehouse, as a sample for analysis, for
     necessary production tests, or for scientific purposes;          1.    Without prejudice to subsequent Community
                                                                     provisions, Member States shall allow deduction from
 (d) when taken for the purposes      of fiscal supervision or       the amounts of intermediate products held without
     supervision of the activities   of the undertaking or           payment of excise duty, of losses through evaporation
     submitted to the competent      authorities for examin-         and other actual losses up to maximum percentage limits
     ation as to quality or taken     at the request of such         which they shall establish. These percentages shall be
     authorities.                                                    notified    to the Commission on the date of
                                                                     implementation of this Directive.
 3.    Without prejudice to other Community provisions,
the provisions of this Directive shall not preclude the              2.     Member States may also allow the following to be
exemption from excise duty of intermediate products                  deducted from the quantities of intermediate products
which Member States at present or in future grant, under             held without payment of excise duty:
bilateral or multilateral conventions or agreements or by
unilateral measures, to diplomatic missions, international           — quantities destroyed under the supervision of the
institutions, armed forces of other States and similar                    administrative authorities,
organizations.
                                                                     — losses resulting from a duly verified fortuitous event
4.     Without prejudice to other Community provisions,                   or case of force majeure.
Member States may refund the excise duty paid when
products on which the excise duty has been paid are
exported.                                                                                       Article 8
                                                                     Member States shall establish adequate control pro-
5.     Member States shall fix the conditions under which            cedures governing the production, warehousing and
the provisions of paragraphs 2 to 4 shall apply. In the              movement of intermediate products.
cases covered by paragraph 2 (c) and (d) and by
paragraph 3, the Member States may provide that
exemption be effected by a refund of the excise duty.                                 IV. Recovery of excise duty
                                                                                                Article 9
                        III. Control                                 1.     Without prejudice to national regulations governing
                                                                     the chargeable event for the excise duty, the excise duty
                          Article 6                                  on intermediate products shall fall due at the time of
1.     Member States shall provide that the following                releasing them for home use or of recording missing
operations are carried out under suspension of the excise            quantities. It shall be paid on the basis of the actual
duty on intermediate products in a warehouse under                   quantity     of    intermediate     products  cleared    for
fiscal control:                                                      consumption or recorded as missing, taking into account,
                                                                     as regards the latter case, the deductions permitted under
(a) the addition of ethyl alcohol on which excise duty               Article 7.
     has not been paid to wine or other products with a
     view to obtaining an intermediate product;                      2.     However, where fiscal stamps are used as a means
                                                                     of paying excise duty, the latter may fall due at the time
(b) maturing of intermediate products;                               of purchase of affixing of fiscal stamps.
 ---pagebreak--- ^ . ^                                            COfficial journal of the European communities                                          ^ooetntBM
^.    r h e rate of the excise dut^ to be takers into
consideration shall be that in force when the excise dut^
falls due.
In the e^ent of an amendment to the rate of excise dut^,                     1.       Member States shall not, directly or indirectly,
the Member States ma^ l e ^ or refund the difference                         subject intermediate products to an^ indirect tax other
                                                                             than the excise dut^ referred to in A r t i c l e t a n d the ^alue
between the new and the old rate of excise dut^ on
                                                                             added tax provided for in Oeouncil Mirecti^e D^B22B^B
intermediate products which ha^e been held in stock and
                                                                             E E C ^ ^ unless such a tax does not ^ e rise in trade
released for home use prior to the amendment to the rate
                                                                             between Member States to taxes on imports, remission of
of excise dut^.
                                                                             taxes on exports or frontier controls.
                                                                             2.       Inaddition, w h e r e t h e f i e l d o f applicationof a t a x
                                                                             makes noreferencetointermediate products and the tax
t.    The excise dut^ shall be paid as soon as it falls due.                 is not expressed in terms of an^ intermediate product
                                                                             contained, then, notwithstanding that the products
2.     However, Member States shall,on request, ^ r a n t a                  subject to tax ma^ contain intermediate products, s u c h a
period for payment whichthe^ shall fix but which must                        tax shall not be considered as indirect taxation of
expirebetweenthe t ^ t h d a ^ o f t h e f i r s t month a n d t h e         intermediate products within the meaning of this Article.
t^th da^ of the second month, following that during
which the intermediate product was released for home
use. The period must be the same for all those liable for
payment of the dut^ and shall be free of interest.                           ^ h e r e necessary, C^ommunit^ measures for the
Plowe^er, Member Statesman make the ^rantin^ of the                          application of this Mirecti^e shall be determined in
period for payment conditional on a guarantee bein^                          accordance with the procedure laid down b^
provided or,where there i s a r i s k of nonpayment of the                   Precision... o f . . .
excise dut^,ma^ require payment withinaperiod shorter
than that normally granted.
                                                                             1.      Member States shall brin^ into force, not later than
^.    ^ h e r e Member States for administrative reasons                     t ] a n u a r ^ t ^ B ^ , t h e l a w s , regulations and administrative
use accounting periods not corresponding to calendar                         provisions necessary to comply withthisLoirecti^e.The^
months, the a^era^e period for payment must come                             shall forthwith inform the commission thereof.
within the a^era^e period obtained b^ appl^in^ the
maximum and minimum periods referred to in paragraph                         2.      Member States shall communicate to the
2, calculated on the basis of a monthly accounting                           C^ommissionthetextsofthemainpro^isions of national
period.                                                                      law which the^ adopt in the field ^o^erned b^ this
                                                                             Mirecti^e.
^.    Member States ma^ require the taxable quantities
to be declared in a summary statement, lodged b^ the
persons liable for payment of the dut^ on a date and                         The Prench Republic shall be authorised not to
under conditions fixed b^ the Member States.                                 implement thepro^isionsof this Mirecti^einthePrench
                                                                             overseas departments.
^.    ^ h e r e , in accordance with Article ^ ^ , Member
States r e ^ a r d t h e d u t ^ a s falling due o n t h e purchase or
affixing of fiscal stamps, different procedures for
                                                                             This Mirecti^e is addressed to the Member States.
payment ma^ be established, taking into account the
internal between the time the dut^ falls due and the time
the intermediate product is released for home use.                           ^eo^o^nt^^                    t^^Dt^otB^
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 114/12                             Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s               8.5.85
                                                                   ANNEX
            The quality liqueur wines referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1 are the wines called 'vins doux naturels', the
            production of which is traditional and customary, and which are:
            — directly made into wine by producers from their wine harvest consisting exclusively of muscat,
               greneche, maccabeo and malvoisie: harvests from vine varieties other than the four specified above are
               however permitted provided that they are obtained from vineyards planted up to a (maximum) limit of
               10 % of the total number of plants;
            — obtained within the limit of a yield of 40 hectolitres of must per hectare; any excess in this yield will
               entail the withdrawal of the benefit of the designation 'vins doux naturels' from the entire harvest;
            — the product of musts registering an initial natural sugar richness of at least 252 grams per litre;
            — obtained to the exclusion of all other enrichment by the addition of wine-derived alcohol corresponding
               in pure alcohol to not less than 5 % per volume of the musts used and not more than the smaller of the
               two following ratios:
               — either 10 % per volume of the musts used,
               — or 40 % of the total alcoholic strength by volume of the finished product represented by the sum of
                   the actual alcoholic strength and the equivalent of the potential alcoholic strength calculated on the
                   basis of 1 % pure alcohol by volume for each 17,5 grams of residual sugar per litre.