Council Regulation (EEC) No 139/86 of 20 January 1986 laying down general rules for the disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39, 40 and 41 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 and held by intervention agencies

COUNCIL  REGULATION (EEC) No 139/86
of 20 January 1986
laying down general rules for the disposal af alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39, 40 and 41 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 and held by intervention agencies
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 of 5 February 1979 on the common organization of the market in wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3768/85 (2), and in particular Articles 40 and 41a (4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas Article 41a (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 provides that alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Article 41 of that Regulation shall be disposed of either by public auction or by a tendering procedure; whereas, since this procedure is such as to permit products to be disposed of without discrimination among Community buyers and to ensure a level of prices that does not hinder the normal development of prices on the market, it would seem appropriate also for the disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39 and 40 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79;
Whereas Articles 40a and 41a of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 provide that the disposal of products obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39, 40 and 41 held by the intervention agencies must take place in such a way as to avoid any disturbance of the markets in alcohol and spirituous beverages; whereas, consistent with this objective, it is necessary to fix minimum selling prices for alcohol intended for those markets taking account of representative market prices for grain alcohol of comparable quality and the effective disposal price for wine alcohol from voluntary distillations, and to set aside certain quantities of alcohol for other sectors, in particular, for use as motor fuel or fuel in thermal power stations; whereas the legal and administrative obstacles to the use of alcohol in this latter sector which have existed hitherto must be eliminated in accordance with Council Directive 85/536/EEC of 5 December 1985 on crude oil savings through the use of substitute fuel components in petrol (3);
Whereas in order to ensure compliance with Article 40a of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79, provision should be made for alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39 and 40 of that Regulation to be put up for sale firstly on the market in alcohol and spirituous beverages and to be assigned to other sectors only if such putting up for sale has not produced results;
Whereas it would seem appropriate to provide that the procedures for selling products obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 39 and 40 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 on the market in alcohol and spirituous beverages be opened and administered by the Member States' intervention agencies; whereas, however, since the disposal of this alcohol in other sectors and the disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation operations provided for in Article 41 are wholly the responsibility of the EAGGF, they must be carried out under procedures opened and administered at Community level;
Whereas, in order to avoid any disturbance of the various markets in alcohol while affording operators some guidance, it would seem appropriate to provide for the fixing of minimum prices before the beginning of each marketing year; whereas it must, however, be possible for these prices to be altered if the economic situation has significantly altered the terms of reference;
Whereas the period of application of this Regulation should be limited, as of now, to one year in order to enable some degree of experience to be gained and to enable a decision on measures to be taken, and subsequently to be made on the basis of that experience,