# COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 616/2005

of 21 April 2005

amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms

## Preamble

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] , and in particular Article 33 thereof,

Whereas:

**(1)** Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 [^2] provides for a system of disposal by public sale of wine alcohol for use as bio-ethanol in the Community. In order to enable the highest price offered by a tenderer to be obtained for such alcohol, the public sale system should be replaced by a tendering system.

**(2)** To that end, the same rules should be applied to the different types of disposal of wine alcohol, while the characteristics necessary for each use or final destination of the alcohol should be respected.

**(3)** In order to check that the alcohol is to be used for the production of bio-ethanol, Member States approve firms which they deem eligible on the basis of their capacity, the plants where the alcohol is processed, their annual processing capacity, and the certificates from the national authorities of the Member State of the final purchaser attesting that the final purchaser uses the alcohol only to produce bio-ethanol and that the bio-ethanol is used only in the fuel sector.

**(4)** Sales by tender should be held each quarter, first in order to ensure that the alcohol stored by Member States’ intervention agencies is disposed of, and second in order to provide some guarantee of supply for firms established in the European Community which use alcohol in the fuel sector.

**(5)** The Member States should send information at the end of each month on the quantities of wine, wine lees and fortified wine which have been distilled in the previous month, as well as the quantities of alcohol, broken down into neutral alcohol, raw alcohol and spirits.

**(6)** Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 should be amended accordingly.

**(7)** The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

## **Article 1**

Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 is hereby amended as follows:

**2.** the first subparagraph of Article 97(1) is replaced by the following: ‘1. To be eligible for consideration, tenders must be submitted in writing and must include, in addition to the specific information referred to in subsections I, II or III’;

**3.** in Article 98, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: ‘1. On publication of a notice of invitation to tender and until the closing date for the submission of tenders in response to such invitation, all interested parties may obtain samples of the alcohol offered for sale, against payment of EUR 10 per litre. The quantity made available to each interested party shall not exceed five litres per vat. 2. After the closing date for the submission of tenders, the tenderer or the approved firm referred to in Article 92 may obtain samples of the alcohol awarded. After the closing date for the submission of tenders, a tenderer to whom a replacement pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 83(3) is proposed may obtain samples of the replacement alcohol proposed. Such samples, which may not exceed five litres per vat, may be obtained from the intervention agency against payment of EUR 10 per litre.’;

| 4. | ‘(c): In the case of alcohol awarded for a new industrial use and alcohol awarded under tendering procedures for use as bio-ethanol in the fuel sector in the Community which must be rectified prior to the final use intended, the alcohol removed shall be deemed to have been used entirely for the purpose specified where at least 90 % of the total quantities of alcohol removed under an invitation to tender is used for that purpose. The tenderer who has agreed to purchase the alcohol shall inform the intervention agency of the quantity, destination and use of the products derived from the rectification. However, losses may not exceed the limits specified in point (b).’; | ‘(c) | In the case of alcohol awarded for a new industrial use and alcohol awarded under tendering procedures for use as bio-ethanol in the fuel sector in the Community which must be rectified prior to the final use intended, the alcohol removed shall be deemed to have been used entirely for the purpose specified where at least 90 % of the total quantities of alcohol removed under an invitation to tender is used for that purpose.<br>The tenderer who has agreed to purchase the alcohol shall inform the intervention agency of the quantity, destination and use of the products derived from the rectification.<br>However, losses may not exceed the limits specified in point (b).’; |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ‘(c) | In the case of alcohol awarded for a new industrial use and alcohol awarded under tendering procedures for use as bio-ethanol in the fuel sector in the Community which must be rectified prior to the final use intended, the alcohol removed shall be deemed to have been used entirely for the purpose specified where at least 90 % of the total quantities of alcohol removed under an invitation to tender is used for that purpose.<br>The tenderer who has agreed to purchase the alcohol shall inform the intervention agency of the quantity, destination and use of the products derived from the rectification.<br>However, losses may not exceed the limits specified in point (b).’; |  |  |

| 5. | Article 103(2) is replaced by the following:<br>‘2. In the case of the distillation referred to in Articles 27, 28 and 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, Member States shall communicate at the end of each month:<br>(a)<br>the quantities of wine, wine lees and fortified wine which have been distilled in the previous month,<br>(b)<br>the quantities of alcohol, broken down into neutral alcohol, raw alcohol and spirits:<br>—<br>produced during the previous month,<br>—<br>taken over by the intervention agencies during the previous month,<br>—<br>disposed of by the intervention agencies during the previous month and the percentage of those quantities exported and the selling prices charged,<br>—<br>held by the intervention agencies at the end of the previous month.’ | (a) | the quantities of wine, wine lees and fortified wine which have been distilled in the previous month, | (b) | —: produced during the previous month, | — | produced during the previous month, | — | taken over by the intervention agencies during the previous month, | — | disposed of by the intervention agencies during the previous month and the percentage of those quantities exported and the selling prices charged, | — | held by the intervention agencies at the end of the previous month.’ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| (a) | the quantities of wine, wine lees and fortified wine which have been distilled in the previous month, |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| (b) | —: produced during the previous month, | — | produced during the previous month, | — | taken over by the intervention agencies during the previous month, | — | disposed of by the intervention agencies during the previous month and the percentage of those quantities exported and the selling prices charged, | — | held by the intervention agencies at the end of the previous month.’ |  |  |  |  |
| — | produced during the previous month, |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| — | taken over by the intervention agencies during the previous month, |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| — | disposed of by the intervention agencies during the previous month and the percentage of those quantities exported and the selling prices charged, |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| — | held by the intervention agencies at the end of the previous month.’ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## **Article 2**

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union* .

## Final provisions

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 21 April 2005. *For the Commission* Mariann FISCHER BOEL *Member of the Commission*

[^1] [OJ L 179, 14.7.1999, p. 1](http://publications.europa.eu/resource/oj/JOL_1999_179_R_TOC) . Regulation last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession.

[^2] [OJ L 194, 31.7.2000, p. 45](http://publications.europa.eu/resource/oj/JOL_2000_194_R_TOC) . Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1774/2004 ( [OJ L 316, 15.10.2004, p. 61](http://publications.europa.eu/resource/oj/JOL_2004_316_R_TOC) ).

[^1]: . Regulation last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession.
[^2]: . Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1774/2004 ().