Commission Regulation (EC) No 786/2001 of 24 April 2001 opening crisis distillation as provided for in Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 for table wines in Spain

Commission Regulation (EC) No 786/2001
of 24 April 2001
opening crisis distillation as provided for in Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 for table wines in Spain
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine(1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000(2), and in particular Articles 30 and 33 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 provides for the possibility of opening crisis distillation in the event of exceptional market disturbance caused by major surpluses. Such measures may be limited to certain categories of wine and/or certain areas of production and may apply to quality wines psr at the request of the Member State.
(2) The Spanish Goverment has requested that crisis distillation be opened for table wines produced on its territory.
(3) Wine production in Spain was 33,2 million hectolitres in 1997/98 and 31,2 million hectolitres in 1998/99. It rose to 33,5 million hectolitres in 1999/2000 and to 41,1 million hectolitres in 2000/01, an increase of 22,8 % over the previous wine year. This represents a 33 % increase over the average for the previous ten wine years.
(4) Stocks at the start of the wine year were 20,3 million hectolitres in 1997/98 and 21 million hectolitres in 1998/99. Stocks increased to 23,7 million hectolitres in 1999/2000 and, again, by around 16 % to 27,5 million hectolitres in 2000/01. This is 26 % above the average for the last ten wine years.
(5) The considerable increases in production and stocks have had a very negative impact on prices, which have fallen during the current wine year compared with the same period last year by around 26 % for white wines and around 37 % for red wines.
(6) Since the conditions laid down in Article 30(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 are satisfied, crisis distillation covering a maximum of 2,6 million hectolitres of table wine should be opened. That volume should make it possible to curtail the reduction in prices and restore a reasonable situation on the market for table wine. The measure applies for a limited period with a view to maximum effectiveness. Without prejudice to Article 79 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, no ceiling should be set on the quantity that individual producers can have distilled because stocks may vary substantially from one producer to another and depend more on sales than on the individual producer's annual output.
(7) The mechanism to be introduced is that provided for by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 of 25 July 2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 545/2001(4). In addition to the Articles of that Regulation referring to the distillation measures provided for in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, other provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 apply, in particular those concerning the delivery of alcohol to intervention agencies.
(8) The price to be paid by distillers to producers should be set at a level that permits the problems faced to be solved by allowing producers to take advantage of this measure. That price should not, however, be such that it adversely affects the application of the distillation measure provided for by Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.
(9) The product of crisis distillation must be raw alcohol or neutral alcohol for compulsory delivery to the intervention agency in order to avoid disturbing the market for potable alcohol, which is supplied largely by distillation under Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.
(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,