CELEX: 51984PC0283(03)
Language: en
Date: 1984-05-25
Title: AMENDMENT PURSUANT TO THE SECOND PARAGRAPH OF ARTICLE 149 OF THE TREATY TO THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION LAYING DOWN GENERAL RULES FOR THE DESCRIPTION AND PRESENTATION OF SPARKLING WINES AND AERATED SPARKLING WINES

9. 7. 84                            Official Journal of the European Communities                          No C 182/21
                Amendments to the proposal for a Council Regulation laying down general rules for the
                     description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines (*)
                                                     COM(84) 283 final
                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to Article 149 (2) of the Treaty on
                                                       5 June 1984)
                                                      (84/C 182/09)
1. Article 2 is hereby amended as follows:                      3.  Article 4 is hereby amended as follows:
     (a) The following is added to paragraph 1:                     (a) In paragraph 2, the following is added after
                                                                         point (c):
           '(0 the method of production, provided                        '(c')in the case of a quality sparkling wine
                that the production process, including                        of the aromatic type as referred to in
                ageing in the undertaking where they                          Article 18 of       Regulation    (EEC)
                were made, took less than nine months                         No 358/79, "quality aromatic sparkling
                and the wine is not a quality sparkling                       wine".'
                wine of the aromatic type as referred to
                in Article 18 of Regulation (EEC)                   (b) The third subparagraph of paragraph 4 is
                No 358/79.'                                              replaced by the following:
                                                                         'By way of derogation from Article 2(1) (d),
      (b) The following sentence is added to the first                   for quality sparkling wines of the aromatic
            subparagraph of paragraph 2:                                 type as referred to in Article 18 of Regula-
                                                                         tion (EEC) No 358/79, indication of the
            'In addition, the name or business name of                   residual sugar content as referred to in the
            another person or group of persons                           first subparagraph may be replaced by indi-
            involved in the commercial distribution of                   cation of the residual sugar content deter-
            the product and the names of the commune                     mined by analysis in grams per litre.'
            and Member State in which the head office               (c) Paragraph 6 is hereby replaced by the fol-
            of that person or group is situated may be                   lowing:
            given.'
                                                                         '6. The producer of a product referred to
                                                                         in Article 1 (1) means the natural or legal
                                                                         person or group of persons by whom, or on
2.    Article 3 (2) is hereby replaced by the follow-                    whose behalf, production is carried out.
      ing('):                                                            Production means the processing of fresh
                                                                         grapes, grape musts and wines into a prod-
      '2. The Member States' authorities responsible                     uct referred to in Article 1(1).
      for the monitoring and control of quality in the
                                                                         The name or business name of the producer
      wine sector may require a producer of one of the
                                                                         and the names of the commune and Mem-
      products referred to in Article 1 (1) to furnish
                                                                         ber State in which the producer's head off-
      proof of the accuracy of the information con-
                                                                         ice is situated shall be given:
      cerning the nature, identity, quality, composi-
      tion, origin or provenance of the product or of                    — either in full,
      the products used in its production.                               — or in code, provided that the name or
                                                                               business name of the person or group of
       If no such proof is furnished, the said auth-                           persons other than the producer
       orities shall prohibit the use of the information                       involved in the commercial distribution
       in question. Without prejudice to the general                           of the product, and the commune and
      rules of Member States governing apportion-                              Member State in which the head office
       ment of the burden of proof in administrative,                          of such person or group is situated, are
       civil or criminal proceedings, failure to supply                        given in full.'
       proof to the authorities referred to in the first
       subparagraph can have no legal consequences                  (d) The following paragraph 8 is added:
       other than prohibition of the use of the informa-                 '8. The expressions used to indicate the
       tion which has not been substantiated.'                           production method may be prescribed by
                                                                         the implementing provisions.'
(*) OJ No C 120, 5. 5. 1983, p. 3.                              4.   Article 5 is hereby replaced by the following:
(') This provision is inspired by Article 7 of the proposal
      for a Council Directive on misleading and unfair
      advertising (see doc. 5163/84 of 21 February 1984:             'Article 5
      preparation for the Council meeting of 2 March 1984
      on consumer protection).                                       1. The name of a geographical unit other than
 ---pagebreak--- No C 182/22                      Official Journal of the European Communities                             9. 7. 84
   a specified region, and smaller than a Member                    provisions of the non-member country in
   State or a non-member country, may be used                       which the grapes used were harvested;
   only to supplement the description of:
                                                               (c) the name used appears:
   — a quality sparkling wine psr,
                                                                    — in the classification of vine varieties
   — a quality sparkling wine to which the imple-
                                                                         adopted pursuant to Article 31 (4) of
        menting provisions have given the name of
                                                                         Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 or, in the
        such a geographical unit,
                                                                         case of products originating in non-
        or                                                               member countries, on a list of vine
                                                                         varieties officially adopted or recog-
   — a sparkling wine originating in a non-mem-                          nized in the non-member country in
        ber country, the conditions for whose prod-                      which the grapes were harvested,
        uction are equivalent to those laid down in
        Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 358/79.                         or
   Use of such a name shall be allowed only if:                     — where applicable, on a list of synonyms
                                                                         to be drawn up;
   (a) it conforms to the rules of the Member State
        or non-member country in which the sparkl-             (d) the variety has a preponderant effect on the
        ing wine was produced:                                      nature of the product in question;
   (b) the geographical unit in question is defined            (e) the name of the variety cannot be confused
        exactly:                                                    with the name of a specified region or geo-
                                                                    graphical unit used to describe another wine
   (c) at least 85 % of the grapes from which the                   produced in the Community or imported.
        product was obtained came from that geo-
        graphical unit, with the exception of the              However, in the case of products made from
        products contained in tirage liqueur or                wines or grape musts originating in their terri-
        expedition liqueur;                                    tory, Member States may prescribe that the
                                                               name of a vine variety be indicated only if:
    (d) in the case of quality sparkling wines psr,            — the product was obtained entirely from
        the geographical unit is situated within the                grapes of the variety in question,
         specified region whose name the wine
         bears;                                                     or
   (e) in the case of quality sparkling w(ines, the            — the variety appears on an exhaustive list
        name of that geographical unit is not laid                  which they have drawn up.
        down for describing a quality sparkling
        wine psr.                                              3. The term "reserve", whether or not com-
                                                               bined with other terms, may be used to describe
   2. The name of a vine variety may be used                   a product as referred to in Article 1(1) only if
   only to supplement the description of:                      the fermentation process designed to make the
                                                               wine sparkling and the presence on the lees
   — a quality sparkling wine psr,                             lasted at least six months.
   — a quality sparkling wine whose description
                                                               4. The expression "bottle-fermented" may be
        contains the name of a geographical unit,              used only to describe:
   — a sparkling wine originating in a non-mem-                — a quality sparkling wine psr,
        ber country whose description contains the
        name of a geographical unit.                           — a quality sparkling wine,
                                                                    or
    Use of the name of a vine variety shall be
    allowed only if:                                           — a sparkling wine originating in a non-mem-
                                                                    ber country, the conditions for whose prod-
    (a) at least 85 % of the product was obtained                   uction are equivalent to those laid down in
         from grapes belonging to the variety in                    Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 358/79.
        question, with the exception of the products
         contained in tirage liqueur or expedition
         liqueur;                                               Use of this expression shall be allowed only if
                                                                the product:
    (b) the cultivation of the variety and the use of
        the products which were obtained from it               (a) was made sparkling by alcoholic fermenta-
        conform to Community provisions or to the                   tion in the bottle;
 ---pagebreak--- 9. 7. 84                             Official Journal of the European Communities                         NoC 182/23
     (b) spent at least nine months without interrup-              — a quality sparkling wine,
           tion in the bottle in contact with the lees,                  or
           and
                                                                   — a sparkling wine originating in a non-mem-
     (c) was separated from the lees by filtering                        ber country, the conditions for whose prod-
           using trie decantation method or by disgorg-                  uction are equivalent to those laid down in
           ing.                                                          Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 358/79.
     5. The following may be used only to describe                  Reference to the vintage year shall be allowed
     a quality sparkling wine psr or a quality spark-               only if at least 85 % of the product was obtained
     ling wine produced:                                            from grapes harvested in the year in question,
                                                                    with the exception of the products contained in
     — in Germany: "Flaschengarung nach dem                        tirage liqueur or expedition liqueur.
           traditionellen Verfahren",
                                                                   However, Member States may prescribe that the
     — in France: "methode champenoise" or "fer-                   vintage year may be given for quality sparkling
            mentation en bouteille selon la methode                wines psr produced on their territory only if the
            champenoise".                                          product was obtained entirely from grapes har-
     — in Italy: "metodo classico".                                vested in the year in question, with the excep-
                                                                   tion of the products contained in tirage liqueur
      Use of one or other of these expressions shall be             or expedition liqueur.
     allowed only if the product:
                                                                   7. Reference to superior quality or to a method
     (a) was made sparkling by alcoholic fermenta-                 of production other than those referred to in
           tion in the bottle;                                      paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 shall be allowed only in
                                                                   the case of:
     (b) spent at least 12 months without interrup-
           tion in the bottle in contact with the lees;            — a quality sparkling wine psr,
     (c) was separated from the lees by disgorging;                 — a quality sparkling wine,
           and                                                            or
     (d) stayed without interruption on the premises               — a sparkling wine originating in a non-mem-
           of the same undertaking from the time when                    ber country the conditions for whose prod-
           the cuvee was constituated until the bottles                  uction are equivalent to those laid down in
            were finally closed.                                         Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 358/79.
     The implementing provisions may permit the                     Where necessary, the implementing provisions
      use of one of the expressions referred to in the              may lay down:
      first subparagraph to describe either a quality
      sparkling wine psr or a quality sparkling wine               — conditions for the use of the expressions
      produced in another Member State or a spark-                       referred to in the first subparagraph,
      ling wine originating in a non-member country,
      the conditions for whose production are equiva-               — a list of the expressions referred to in the
      lent to those laid down in Title III of Regula-                     first subparagraph for which a Member
      tion (EEC) No 358/79, provided that:                                State or a non-member country has laid
                                                                          down conditions for use.
     — the use of such expression is traditional and
            customary, and
                                                                     8. The expressions "blanc de blancs" or equi-
     — the provisions of the second subparagraph                     valent expressions may be used only for prod-
            are observed.                                            ucts obtained from grapes belonging to vine
                                                                     varieties listed as white grape varieties in the
      In the case of quality sparkling wines psr and                 classification drawn up pursuant to Article 31
      quality sparkling wines produced on their terri-               (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79.
      tory which meet the criteria set out in the second
      subparagraph, Member States may lay down
      supplementary conditions governing the use of                  9. A Member State or non-member country
                                                                     may not be indicated by the use of its name, or
      the expressions referred to in the first subpara-
                                                                     of the adjective derived from its name, in com-
      graph.                                                         bination with the name of the product unless
                                                                     the product is made exclusively from grapes
      6. The vintage year may be used only in the
                                                                     harvested and processed into wine on the terri-
      description of:                                                tory of the member State or non-member coun-
      — a quality sparkling wine psr,                                try in which it was produced.'
 ---pagebreak--- No C 182/24                       Official Journal of the European Communities                           9. 7. 84
5. In Article 6 (4), point (a) of the second subpara-               — for an expression relating to the produc-
   graph is hereby replaced by the following:                            tion method, as referred to in Article 5
   (a) in the case of quality sparkling wines psr                        (5);'.
       and quality sparkling wines, the official lan-
       guage of the Member State on whose terri-             6. The following paragraph is hereby added to
       tory production took place shall be used:                Article 14:
       — for the name of the specified region, as               'These provisions shall expire not later than
            referred to in the second subparagraph              31 August 1987, with the exception of those
            of Article 2 (2),                                   governing direct sale to the final consumer by
       — for the name of another geographical                   retailers and vendors of beverages to be con-
            unit, as referred to in Article 5(1),               sumed exclusively on the premises.'