The Communication from the Commission of 29 November 2017 entitled ‘The Future of Food and Farming’ sets out the challenges, objectives and orientations for the future common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2020. Those objectives include making the CAP more result-driven, boosting modernisation and sustainability, including the economic, social, environmental and climate sustainability of the agricultural, forestry and rural areas, and helping reduce the Union legislation-related administrative burden for beneficiaries.
(2)
Since the CAP needs to sharpen its responses to the challenges and opportunities as they manifest themselves at international, Union, national, regional, local and farm levels, it is necessary to streamline the governance of the CAP and improve its delivery on the Union objectives and to significantly decrease the administrative burden. The CAP should be based on delivery of performance. Therefore, the Union should set the basic policy parameters, such as the objectives of the CAP and its basic requirements, while Member States should bear greater responsibility as to how they meet the objectives and achieve targets. Enhanced subsidiarity makes it possible to better take into account local conditions and needs and the particular nature of agricultural activity, which results from the social structure of agriculture and from structural and natural disparities between the various agricultural regions, tailoring the support to maximise the contribution to the achievement of Union objectives.
(3)
Horizontal financial rules adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the basis of Article 322 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) apply to this Regulation. Those rules are laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) (the ‘Financial Regulation’) and determine in particular the procedure for establishing and implementing the budget through grants, procurement, prizes, indirect implementation, and provide for checks on the responsibility of financial actors. Rules adopted on the basis of Article 322 TFEU also include a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget.
(4)
To ensure the coherence of the CAP, all interventions of the future CAP should be part of a strategic plan which would include types of intervention in certain sectors that were provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6).
(5)
Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 sets out certain definitions concerning sectors falling within the scope of that Regulation. The definitions concerning the sugar sector set out in Part II, Section B, of that Annex should be deleted because they are no longer applicable. In order to update the definitions concerning other sectors referred to in that Annex in light of new scientific knowledge or market developments, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the amendment of those definitions, but not the power to add new definitions. Consequently, the individual empowerment delegated to the Commission in Part II, Section A, point 4, of that Annex to amend the definition of inulin syrup should be deleted. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (7). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(6)
Part I of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be simplified. Redundant and obsolete definitions and provisions empowering the Commission to adopt implementing acts should be deleted.
(7)
In light of the experience gained, certain public intervention periods should be extended. Where the opening of public intervention is automatic, the public intervention period should be extended by one month. Where the opening of public intervention depends on market developments, the public intervention period should be the entire year.
(8)
For the purposes of increased transparency, and in the context of the Union’s international commitments, it is appropriate to provide for the publication of relevant volume and price information on the buying-in and on the selling of products bought in under public intervention.
(9)
The granting of aid for the private storage of olive oil has proved to be an effective tool for market stabilisation. In light of the experience gained and in order to ensure a fair standard of living and to stabilise the market in the olive oil and table olives sector, it is appropriate to extend the list of products that are eligible for aid for private storage to also cover table olives.
(10)
Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the Union, the limits on Union aid for the supply of fruit and vegetables and of milk and milk products in educational establishments, set out in Article 23a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, should be updated. It is appropriate for reasons of legal certainty to provide for the reduced limits to apply with retroactive effect from 1 January 2021.
(11)
Provisions concerning aid schemes set out in Part II, Title I, Chapter II, Sections 2 to 6, of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be deleted, as all types of intervention in the sectors concerned are set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8).
(12)
Union wine policy, with its existing scheme of authorisations that has allowed for the orderly growth of vine plantings since 2016, has contributed to increasing the competitiveness of the Union wine sector and to encouraging high-quality production. While the wine sector has achieved a balance between production supply, quality, consumer demand and exports on the world market, that balance is not yet sufficiently longstanding or stable, in particular when the wine sector is faced with serious market disturbances. In addition, there is a trend towards a continued decrease in wine consumption in the Union due to changes in consumer habits and lifestyle. As a consequence, in the long term the liberalisation of new vine plantings risks threatening the balance achieved so far between the supply capacity of the sector, a fair standard of living for producers and reasonable prices for consumers. This risks jeopardising the positive developments achieved through Union legislation and policies in recent decades.
(13)
The existing scheme of authorisations for vine plantings is also considered essential to ensuring diversity of wines and responding to the specificities of the Union wine sector. The Union wine sector has specific characteristics, including the long cycle of vineyards, given that production only takes place several years after planting but then continues for several decades, and given the potential for considerable fluctuations in production from one harvest to the next. Unlike many wine-producing third countries, the Union wine sector is also characterised by a very high number of small, family-run farms, which results in a diverse range of wines. In order to guarantee the economic viability of their projects and to improve the competitiveness of the Union wine sector on the global market, operators in the sector and producers therefore need long-term predictability, given the significant investment required to plant a vineyard.
(14)
In order to secure the achievements of the Union wine sector up to now and to achieve a long-lasting quantitative and qualitative balance in the sector through the continued orderly growth of vine plantings beyond 2030, the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings should be extended until 2045, i.e. for a period equivalent to the initial period in place since 2016, but with two mid-term reviews to be carried out in 2028 and 2040, in order to evaluate the scheme and, if necessary, to present proposals on the basis of the results of those mid-term reviews to improve the competitiveness of the wine sector.
(15)
Allowing producers to delay the replanting of vineyards could have a positive environmental impact by improving soil sanitary conditions with fewer chemical inputs. Therefore, in order to contribute to a better soil management in viticulture, it is appropriate to allow for the extension of the validity of replanting authorisations from three to six years where the replanting takes place on the same parcel of land.
(16)
Due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Union wine sector, Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) provided for the extension until 31 December 2021 of the validity of planting authorisations for new plantings or for replanting that were due to expire in 2020. Due to the prolonged effects of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, producers holding planting authorisations for new plantings or for replanting that were due to expire in 2020 or 2021 continue to be largely prevented from using those authorisations in the last year of their validity. To avoid the loss of those authorisations and to reduce the risk of the deterioration of the conditions under which the planting would need to be carried out, it is appropriate to allow for a further extension of the validity of planting authorisations for new plantings or for replanting which expire in 2020 and a extension for those which expire in 2021. All planting authorisations for new plantings or for replanting that were due to expire in 2020 or 2021 should therefore be extended until 31 December 2022.
(17)
Also, taking into account changes in market perspectives, the holders of planting authorisations expiring in 2020 and 2021 should be able not to use their authorisations, without being subject to administrative penalties. Moreover, in order to avoid any discrimination, producers who, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/2220, declared to the competent authority by 28 February 2021 that they did not intend to make use of their authorisation without knowing about the possibility of extending the validity of their authorisations for a second year, should be allowed to retract their declarations by means of a written communication to the competent authority by 28 February 2022 and to make use of their authorisation until 31 December 2022.
(18)
Because of the market disturbances due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic uncertainty it caused as regards the use of those authorisations, the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 on planting authorisations for new plantings or for replanting that expire in years 2020 and 2021, should apply retroactively from 1 January 2021.
(19)
In view of the decrease in several Member States in the actual area planted with vines in the years 2014-2017, and in view of the potential loss in production ensuing, when establishing the area for new planting authorisations referred to in Article 63(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Member States should be able to choose between the existing basis and a percentage of the total area actually planted with vines in their territory on 31 July 2015 increased by an area corresponding to the planting rights under Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (10) that were available for conversion into authorisations in the Member State concerned on 1 January 2016.
(20)
It should be clarified that Member States that limit the issuing of authorisations at regional level for specific areas eligible for the production of wines with a protected designation of origin or for areas eligible for the production of wines with a protected geographical indication may require such authorisations to be used in those regions.
(21)
It should be clarified that Member States, for the purpose of granting vine planting authorisations, may apply objective and non-discriminatory eligibility and priority criteria at national or regional level. In addition, the experience of Member States shows the necessity of revising some of the priority criteria in order to be able to give preference to vineyards that contribute to the preservation of vine genetic resources and holdings whose increased cost-efficiency, competiveness or presence on the market has been proven.
(22)
In order to ensure that no advantage is granted in favour of a natural or legal person in respect of whom it is established that the conditions required for obtaining such advantages were created artificially, it is appropriate to clarify that Member States should be allowed to adopt measures to prevent the circumvention of rules concerning the safeguard mechanism for new plantings and the eligibility and priority criteria for the granting of authorisations for new plantings.
(23)
The latest deadline for the submission of requests for the conversion of planting rights into authorisations ends on 31 December 2022. In some cases, circumstances such as the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have had the effect of limiting the conversion of planting rights into planting authorisations. For that reason, and in order to allow Member States to preserve the production capacity corresponding to such planting rights, it is appropriate that, from 1 January 2023, planting rights that were eligible for conversion into planting authorisations on 31 December 2022 but have not yet been converted into planting authorisations remain at the disposal of the Member States concerned, which may grant them at the latest by 31 December 2025 as authorisations for new vine plantings, without those authorisations being counted for the purposes of the limitations laid down in Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(24)
In some Member States, there are traditional vineyards planted with varieties that are not allowed for the purposes of wine production, the production of which, including production for the purposes of producing fermented grape beverages other than wine, is not intended for the wine market. It is appropriate to clarify that such vineyards are not subject to grubbing-up obligations and that the scheme of authorisations for vine planting set out in this Regulation does not apply to the planting and replanting of such varieties for purposes other than wine production.
(25)
Article 90 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down that, unless otherwise provided for in international agreements concluded in accordance with the TFEU, Union rules on designations of origin and geographical indications, labelling, definitions, designations and sales descriptions for certain products in the wine sector, as well as the oenological practices authorised by the Union, are to apply to the products imported into the Union. Therefore, in the interest of consistency, it is appropriate to provide that the rules concerning certificates of compliance and analysis reports for the import of those products should also be applied in light of the international agreements concluded in accordance with the TFEU.
(26)
Within the framework of the CAP reform, provisions concerning withdrawal from the market of products that do not comply with labelling rules should be integrated into Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. In view of the increasing consumer demand for product controls, Member States should take measures to ensure that products which are not labelled in conformity with that Regulation are not placed on the market or, if such products have already been placed on the market, that they are withdrawn from the market. Withdrawal includes the possibility to correct the labelling of the products without definitively removing them from the market.
(27)
In view of the repeal of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) by Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), provisions concerning checks and penalties related to marketing rules, protected designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional terms should be integrated into Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(28)
To enable producers to use vine varieties that are better adapted to changing climatic conditions and that have higher resistance to diseases, provision should be made to permit the use of designations of origin for products made from both vine varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera and vine varieties stemming from a cross between Vitis vinifera and other species of the genus Vitis.
(29)
The definitions of ‘designation of origin’ and ‘geographical indication’ in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be aligned with the definitions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (‘TRIPS Agreement’), approved by Council Decision 94/800/EC (13), in particular with Article 22(1) of the TRIPS Agreement, in that geographical indications identify the product as originating in a specific place, region or country. In the interest of clarity, it is appropriate to lay down explicitly that the revised definition of a designation of origin includes traditionally used names. As a result, the list of the requirements for a traditionally used name to constitute a designation of origin in the wine sector set out in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 will become obsolete and should be deleted. For reasons of consistency, such a clarification should also be introduced in the definition of ‘geographical indication’ for the wine sector laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and in the definitions of ‘designation of origin’ and ‘geographical indications’ for the food sector laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (14).
(30)
The geographical environment, with its natural and human factors, is a crucial element that affects the quality and characteristics of grapevine products, agricultural products and foodstuffs that benefit from protected designations of origin or geographical indications pursuant to Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1151/2012. In particular, where fresh products that undergo little or no processing are concerned, natural factors may be predominant in determining the quality and characteristics of the product concerned, while the contribution of human factors to the quality and characteristics of the product may be less specific. Therefore, the human factors that should be taken into account in the description of the link between the quality or characteristics of a product and a particular geographical environment that is to be included in the product specification of protected designations of origin pursuant to Article 94 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should not be limited to specific methods of production or processing that confer a specific quality to the product concerned, but may include factors such as soil and landscape management, cultivation practices, and any other human activities that contribute to the maintenance of the essential natural factors that predominantly determine the geographical environment and the quality and characteristics of the product concerned.
(31)
To ensure coherent decision-making as regards applications for protection and objection submitted in the preliminary national procedure referred to in Article 96 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and in Article 49 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission should be informed in a timely and regular manner when procedures are launched before national courts or other bodies concerning an application for protection forwarded by the Member State to the Commission, as referred to in Article 96(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 49(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. For the same reason, where a Member State communicates to the Commission a national decision on which the application for protection is based that is likely to be invalidated at the end of a national judicial proceeding, the Commission should be exempted from the obligation to carry out the scrutiny procedure set out in Article 97 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 with respect to an application for protection within the prescribed deadline and from the obligation to inform the applicant of the reasons for the delay. In order to protect the applicant from vexatious legal actions and to preserve the applicant’s fundamental right to secure the protection of a geographical indication within a reasonable time, the exemption should be limited to cases in which the application for protection has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final judicial decision or in which the Member States consider that the action to challenge the validity of the application is based on valid grounds.
(32)
The registration of geographical indications should be made simpler and faster by separating the assessment of compliance with intellectual property rules from the assessment of the compliance of the product specifications with the requirements laid down in the marketing standards and labelling rules.
(33)
The assessment carried out by the competent authorities of Member States is an essential step in the registration procedure. Member States have knowledge, expertise and access to data that make them the best placed to verify whether the information provided in the application is correct and truthful. Therefore, Member States should ensure that the result of that assessment, which is to be faithfully recorded in a single document summarising the relevant elements of the product specification, is reliable and accurate. Having regard to the principle of subsidiarity, the Commission should subsequently examine applications to ensure that there are no manifest errors, in order to ensure, in particular, that they contain the required information, that they are free of obvious substantive errors, that the reasoning presented supports the application, and that Union law and the interests of stakeholders outside the Member State of application and outside the Union are taken into account.
(34)
In the wine sector, the period during which an objection can be made should be extended to three months to ensure that all interested parties have sufficient time to analyse the application for protection and the possibility to submit a statement of objection. To ensure that the same procedure for objections is applied under Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1151/2012 and to enable Member States to forward objections from natural or legal persons residing or established in their territory to the Commission in a coordinated and efficient manner, objections from natural or legal persons should be submitted via the authorities of the Member State in which they reside or are established. To simplify the objection procedure, the Commission should be empowered to reject inadmissible statements of objection in the implementing act that confers protection on the designation of origin or geographical indication concerned.
(35)
In order to increase procedural efficiency and ensure uniform conditions for the conferral of protection on designations of origin or geographical indications, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt implementing acts conferring such protection in the wine sector without recourse to the examination procedure, in circumstances where no admissible statement of objections to the application for protection has been submitted. For cases where an admissible statement of objection has been submitted, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to adopt implementing acts either conferring protection or rejecting the application for protection, in accordance with the examination procedure.
(36)
The relationship between trade marks and geographical indications of grapevine products should be clarified in relation to criteria for refusal, invalidation and coexistence. Such clarification should not affect rights acquired by holders of geographical indications at national level or that exist by virtue of international agreements concluded by Member States for the period before the establishment of the Union protection system for grapevine products.
(37)
Rules concerning national procedures, the objection procedure, the classification of the amendments into Union amendments and standard amendments, including the main rules for the adoption of such amendments, and temporary labelling and presentation currently laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (15) are an important element of the scheme for the protection of designations of origin and geographical indications in the wine sector. For reasons of consistency with Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16) and for ease of application, those provisions should be integrated into Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(38)
Concerning the protection of geographical indications, it is important to have due regard for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade including Article V thereof on freedom of transit, which was approved by Decision 94/800/EC. Within that legal framework, in order to strengthen geographical indication protection and to combat counterfeiting more effectively, the protection of designations of origin and geographical indications should also apply with regard to goods that enter the customs territory of the Union without being released for free circulation and that are placed under customs special procedures such as procedures for transit, storage, specific use or processing. Therefore, the protection conferred by Article 103(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be extended to cover goods which are in transit across the Union customs territory, and the protection conferred by Article 103(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 13(1) and Article 24 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 to designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed should be extended to cover goods which are sold over the internet or by other means of electronic commerce. In addition, designations of origin and geographical indications in the wine sector should also be protected against any direct or indirect commercial use where they refer to products used as ingredients. Designations of origin and geographical indications in the wine sector and traditional specialities guaranteed should also be protected against misuse, imitation and evocation where they are used to refer to products used as ingredients.
(39)
It should be possible to cancel the protection of a designation of origin or geographical indication in circumstances where it is no longer in use or where the applicant referred to in Article 95 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 no longer wishes to maintain that protection.
(40)
In view of the ever increasing consumer demand for innovative grapevine products that have a lower actual alcoholic strength than the minimum actual alcoholic strength set out for grapevine products in Annex VII, Part II, to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, it should also be possible to produce such innovative grapevine products in the Union. To that end, it is necessary to lay down the conditions under which certain grapevine products may be de-alcoholised or partially de-alcoholised and to establish the processes for de-alcoholisation that are authorised. Those conditions should take into account the Resolutions of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), OIV-ECO 432-2012 Beverage Obtained By Dealcoholisation of Wine, OIV-ECO 433-2012 Beverage Obtained By Partial Dealcoholisation of Wine and OIV-ECO 523-2016 Wine With An Alcohol Content Modified by Dealcoholisation and OIV-OENO 394A-2012 Dealcoholisation Of Wines.
(41)
Those innovative grapevine products have never been marketed in the Union as wine. For that reason, further research and experimentation would be necessary to improve the quality of those products and, in particular, to ensure that the total removal of the alcohol content allows the preservation of the differentiating characteristics of quality wines that are protected by a geographical indication or a designation of origin. Therefore, although both partial and total de-alcoholisation should be authorised for wines without a geographical indication or a designation of origin, only partial de-alcoholisation should be authorised for wines with a protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin. In addition, to ensure clarity and transparency for both producers and consumers of wines with a geographical indication or a designation of origin, it is appropriate to provide that, where wines with a geographical indication or a designation of origin may be partially de-alcoholised, their product specification should contain a description of the partially de-alcoholised wine and, where applicable, the specific oenological practices to be used to make the partially de-alcoholised wine or wines, as well as the relevant restrictions on making them.
(42)
In order to provide a higher level of information to consumers, the compulsory particulars under Article 119 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should include a nutrition declaration and a list of ingredients. However, producers should have the option of limiting the contents of the nutrition declaration on the package or on a label attached thereto to only the energy value and of making the full nutrition declaration and the list of ingredients available by electronic means, provided that they avoid any collection or tracking of user data and do not provide information aimed at marketing purposes. However, the option of not providing a full nutritional declaration on the package or on a label attached thereto should not affect the existing requirement that the label list substances causing allergies or intolerances. In Article 122 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by laying down rules for the indication and designation of ingredients. The marketing of existing stocks of wine should be allowed to continue after the dates of application of the new labelling requirements until those stocks are exhausted. Operators should be allowed sufficient time to adjust to the new labelling requirements before they become applicable.
(43)
In order to ensure that consumers are informed of the nature of de-alcoholised wine products and that the rules governing labelling and presentation of products in the wine sector also apply to de-alcoholised or partially de-alcoholised grapevine products, Article 119 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be amended. However, in order to maintain the current level of information on minimum durability required for beverages containing less than 10 % by volume of alcohol under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17), it is appropriate to require products which have undergone a de-alcoholisation treatment with an actual alcoholic strength by volume of less than 10 % to include, as compulsory particulars, an indication of the date of minimum durability.
(44)
In addition, Annex I, Part XII, to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which lists the products covered under the wine sector, currently covers partially de-alcoholised wines with an alcohol content by volume above 0,5 %. In order to ensure that all de-alcoholised wines, including those with an alcohol content by volume of 0,5 % or less, are covered in the wine sector, it is appropriate to amend Annex I, Part XII, to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by adding a new entry.
(45)
As regards rules concerning the conditions on the use of closures in the wine sector in order to ensure that consumers are protected from the misleading use of certain closures associated with certain beverages and from hazardous closure materials that may contaminate the beverages, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(46)
Rules and requirements relating to the system of sugar quotas expired at the end of the 2016/2017 marketing year. Article 124 and Articles 127 to 144 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 are now obsolete and should be deleted.
(47)
Directive (EU) 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council (18) lays down an exception from the maximum payment deadline for the sale of grapes and must in the wine sector. In order to contribute to the stability of the wine supply chain and to provide agricultural producers with the security of longstanding sales relationships, sales of wine in bulk should be treated in the same manner. It is therefore appropriate to provide that, by way of derogation from the applicable maximum payment deadlines laid down in Directive (EU) 2019/633, if requested by an interbranch organisation, Member States may decide that the applicable maximum payment deadlines do not apply to the sales of wine in bulk, provided that the specific payment deadline terms are included in standard contracts which have been extended by Member States under Article 164 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 before 31 October 2021 and that the supply agreements between suppliers of wine in bulk and their direct buyers are multiannual or become multiannual.
(48)
Where the delivery of agricultural products by a producer to a processor or distributor is covered by a written contract or offer pursuant to Articles 148 and 168 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, and the price payable for the delivery is calculated by combining various factors set out in the contract, those factors, which may include objective indicators, indices and methods of calculation, should be easily understandable by the parties. Furthermore, Member States should be able to specify optional indicators that may be used by the parties to the contracts, on the basis of available objective market information and studies.
(49)
Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the Union, the total amount of raw milk production in the Union has decreased. In order not to undermine the powers to conduct contractual negotiations granted to producer organisations in the milk and milk products sector, the applicable quantitative limit on the volume of raw milk covered by such negotiations, expressed as a percentage of the total Union production, should be increased. It is appropriate for reasons of legal certainty to provide for the application of the increased quantitative limit with retroactive effect from 1 January 2021.
(50)
To help achieve the environmental objectives of the Union, Member States should be able to recognise producer organisations that pursue specific aims relating to the management and valorisation of by-products, residual flows and waste, in particular to protect the environment and boost circularity, as well as producer organisations that pursue aims relating to the management of mutual funds for any sector. It is therefore appropriate to extend the existing list of objectives of producer organisations set out in Article 152 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. To increase the transparency of producer organisations, the statutes of producer organisations should also enable producer members to scrutinise democratically the accounts and budgets of the organisation. Moreover, for the ease of commercial transactions engaged in by the producer organisation, it is appropriate to lay down that the statutes of a producer organisation may allow producer members to be in direct contact with purchasers, provided that such direct contact does not jeopardise the producer organisation’s function of concentrating supply and placing products on the market and provided that the producer organisation continues to have sole discretion over the essential elements of sales effected by the producer organisation.
(51)
In light of the experience gained and the evolution of the milk and milk products sector since the end of the quota system, it is no longer appropriate to maintain specific rules related to the objectives and the recognition arrangements provided for with respect to interbranch organisations in the sector of milk and milk products.
(52)
The experience in different sectors shows that Member States may recognise interbranch organisations at different geographical levels without undermining the role and the aims of such organisations. Therefore, it is pertinent to clarify that Member States may opt for the recognition of such interbranch organisations at one or more geographical levels. Interbranch organisations are to pursue a specific aim taking account of the interests of their members and of consumers. In light of the environmental objectives of the Union, it is appropriate to extend the list of objectives set out in Article 157 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 to include providing the necessary information and carrying out the necessary research to develop products that are more suited to climate action and to the protection of animal health and animal welfare, contributing to the valorisation of by-products and the reduction and management of waste, and promoting and implementing measures to prevent, control and manage animal health, plant-protection and environmental risks, including by setting up and managing funds or by contributing to such funds with a view to paying financial compensation to farmers for the costs and economic losses arising from the promotion and implementation of such measures. To avoid the risk of organisations at a certain stage of the food supply chain concentrating more power, Member States should recognise only interbranch organisations that strive for a balanced representation of the organisations in various stages of the food supply chain that constitute the interbranch organisation.
(53)
The definition of ‘economic area’ laid down in Article 164 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the purpose of the extension of rules and compulsory contributions should be complemented to adapt that Regulation to the production specificities of products with a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication recognised under Union law. In order to foster sustainable practices, it should be possible to make agreements, decisions and concerted practices of interbranch organisations related to plant health, animal health, food safety and environmental risks binding on non-members. However, because of the importance of biodiversity in the seed material used in organic farming, rules related to the use of certified seeds should not be made binding by extension on non-members practising organic farming.
(54)
In view of the importance of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications for agricultural production in the Union, and in view of the success of the introduction of supply management rules for cheeses and dry-cured hams under geographical indications in ensuring the added value and maintaining the reputation of those products and stabilising their prices, the possibility of applying supply management rules should be extended to agricultural products with a protected designation of origin or geographical indication under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. For clarity and consistency, it is appropriate to integrate the existing rules on the regulation of supply into one single provision covering all agricultural products. Member States should therefore be authorised to apply those rules to regulate the supply of agricultural products under geographical indications at the request of an interbranch organisation, producer organisation, or a group of producers or operators, provided that at least two-thirds of the producers of that product, or their representatives, agree, and, where applicable, the agricultural producers of the raw material concerned have been consulted, and, in the case of cheese, for reasons of continuity, have given their agreement. Those rules should be subject to strict conditions, in particular in order to avoid damage to trade in products in other markets and to protect minority rights. Member States should immediately publish and notify the adopted rules to the Commission, ensure regular checks and repeal the rules in cases of non-compliance. The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts requiring that a Member State repeal such rules if the Commission finds that the rules do not comply with certain conditions, prevent or distort competition in a substantial part of the internal market or jeopardise free trade or the attainment of the objectives of Article 39 TFEU. In light of the Commission’s powers in the field of Union competition policy, and given the special nature of those acts, the Commission should adopt such implementing acts without applying Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
(55)
Value-sharing clauses in the food supply chain are of interest not only in agreements between producers and first buyers but also where they can enable farmers to participate in price developments in the more downstream stages of the chain. It should therefore be made possible for farmers and their associations to agree on such clauses with actors who are downstream of the first buyers.
(56)
The special commercial value of wines covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI) derives from their belonging to a premium segment of the market thanks to their reputation for quality that derives from their product specifications. Such wines tend to fetch higher prices in the market as consumers value the characteristics to which the designation of origin and geographical indication attests. To prevent those quality credentials from being undercut by detrimental price action, interbranch organisations representing the operators benefiting from those quality credentials should be able to issue price guidance concerning the sales of the relevant grapes by way of derogation from Article 101(1) TFEU. However, such guidance should be non-mandatory, in order to avoid eliminating intra-PDO/PGI price competition altogether.
(57)
Article 5 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture includes the calculation methods that may be used to fix the trigger volume for the special safeguard clause in the relevant sectors. In order to take into account all possible calculation methods for establishing the trigger volume for the purpose of the application of additional import duties, including where domestic consumption is not taken into account, Article 182(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be amended to reflect the calculation method set out in Article 5(4) of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.
(58)
Articles 192 and 193 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be deleted, as such measures are no longer necessary in view of the end of the production regulation in the sugar sector. In order to ensure that the Union market is adequately supplied by imports from third countries, delegated and implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission to suspend import duties for cane and beet molasses.
(59)
The Ministerial Decision of 19 December 2015 on Export Competition of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi sets down rules on export competition measures. As regards export subsidies, WTO members are required to eliminate their export subsidy entitlements as of the date of that Decision. Therefore, Union provisions on export refunds set out in Articles 196 to 204 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be deleted. In respect of export credits, export credit guarantees and insurance programmes, agricultural exporting state trading enterprises and international food aid, Member States may adopt national measures respecting Union law. Since the Union and its Member States are WTO members, such national measures should also comply with the rules laid down in that WTO Ministerial Decision of 19 December 2015 as a matter of Union law and international law.
(60)
The internal market relies on the consistent application of competition rules in all Member States. This requires the continued close cooperation of national competition authorities and the Commission in the European network of competition authorities, where questions of interpretation and application of competition rules can be discussed and actions to apply competition rules can be coordinated, in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 (19).
(61)
In order to ensure the effective use of Article 210 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by interbranch organisations, as well as for the sake of simplification and reducing administrative burdens, agreements, decisions and concerted practices of interbranch organisations should not require a prior Commission decision to the effect that they are not subject to the application of Article 101(1) TFEU, provided that those agreements, decisions and concerted practices meet the requirements laid down in Article 210 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. However, at the request of the applicant, the Commission should give an opinion concerning the compatibility of such agreements, decisions and concerted practices with Article 210 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Notwithstanding a Commission opinion issued to the effect that such agreements, decisions and concerted practices are compatible with that Article, the Commission should retain the possibility of declaring at any time after issuing such an opinion that Article 101(1) TFEU will apply in the future to the agreements, decisions or concerted practices in question, if it finds that the relevant conditions for the application of Article 210 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 are no longer met.
(62)
Certain vertical and horizontal initiatives concerning agricultural and food products, which aim to apply requirements that are more stringent than the mandatory requirements, can have positive effects on sustainability objectives. The conclusion of such agreements, decisions and concerted practices between producers and operators at different levels of the production, processing and trade could also strengthen the position of producers in the supply chain and increase their bargaining power. Therefore, under specific circumstances, such initiatives should not be subject to the application of Article 101(1) TFEU. In order to ensure the effective use of this new derogation, and in the interest of reducing administrative burdens, such initiatives should not require a prior Commission decision to the effect that they are not to be subject to the application of Article 101(1) TFEU. As this is a new derogation, it is appropriate to provide that the Commission should produce guidelines for operators concerning the application of the derogation within two years of the entry into force of this Regulation. After that date, producers should also be able to request an opinion from the Commission concerning the application of the derogation to their agreements, decisions and concerted practices. In justified cases, the Commission should be able to subsequently revise the content of its opinion. National competition authorities should be able to decide that an agreement, decision or concerted practice is to be modified, discontinued or not take place at all, if they consider it necessary to protect competition, in which case they should inform the Commission of their actions.
(63)
Article 214a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 allows Finland to grant, under certain conditions, national aid in Southern Finland until 2022, subject to the authorisation of the Commission. The granting of that national aid should continue to be allowed for the period 2023-2027. In order to ensure that this aid can continue to be granted during the transitional period of 2021 to 2022, the new arrangements in respect thereof should apply only from 1 January 2023.
(64)
Restrictions on the free circulation of products in the fruit and vegetables sector resulting from the application of measures intended to combat the spread of plant pests can cause difficulties on the market in one or more Member States. Particularly in light of the increasing occurrence of plant pests, it is therefore appropriate to allow for exceptional support measures to take account of restrictions on trade as a result of plant pests and to extend the list of products in respect of which exceptional support measures may be adopted in the fruit and vegetables sector.
(65)
The existing Union market observatories and working groups for agricultural markets have proved beneficial to informing the choices of economic operators and public authorities as well as to facilitating the monitoring of market developments. To that end, and in order to enhance the transparency of agricultural and food markets at Union level and to contribute to the stability of agricultural markets, those instruments should be strengthened. Therefore, it is appropriate to establish a single formal legal framework for the setting up and operation of Union market observatories in any agricultural sector and to lay down the relevant notification and reporting obligations for those observatories.
(66)
On the basis of the statistical data and information collected for the monitoring of the agricultural markets, Union market observatories should identify threats of market disturbance in their reports. The Commission should regularly present to the European Parliament and to the Council information on the market situation of the agricultural products, the threats of market disturbance and possible measures to be taken, by means of regular participation in meetings of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Special Committee on Agriculture.
(67)
For reasons of clarity, the role of the Commission in respect of its existing obligations to cooperate and exchange information with competent authorities designated in accordance with Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (20) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) should be explicitly laid down in Article 223 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(68)
Obsolete reporting obligations of the Commission regarding the milk and milk products market and the extension of the scope of the school scheme should be deleted. Reporting obligations concerning the apiculture sector should be integrated into Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. New reporting obligations and deadlines should be laid down regarding the application of competition rules to the agricultural sector, regarding the setting up of Union market observatories and regarding the use of exceptional measures. The Commission should also report on the situation of sales designations and carcass classification in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector.
(69)
Provisions concerning the reserve for crises in the agricultural sector laid down in Part V, Chapter III, of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should be deleted, as updated provisions concerning the agricultural reserve are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
(70)
In light of the existing derogation from the sales descriptions to be used for veal with a protected designation of origin or geographical indication registered before 29 June 2007, for consistency reasons and in order to provide for unambiguous information to consumers, Member States should be given the possibility of allowing groups responsible for protected designations of origin or geographical indications registered before the same date to derogate from compulsory carcass classification for veal.
(71)
Rules on assessing conflicts between a name applied for registration as designation of origin or geographical indication under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and the name of a plant variety or animal breed produced in the Union should be laid down in order to reach a fairer balance between the interests at stake.
(72)
To increase the awareness of consumers in respect of protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the obligatory use of the related Union symbols should be extended to the advertising materials.
(73)
Specific derogations that permit the use of other names alongside the registered name of a traditional speciality guaranteed should be provided for. The Commission should fix transitional periods for the use of designations that contain names of traditional specialities guaranteed, in line with the conditions for such transitional periods already in existence for protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications.
(74)
Procedures related to the registration of protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be streamlined and simplified to ensure that new names can be registered within shorter time periods. The opposition procedure should be simplified. The reasoned statement of opposition should set out all the grounds for opposition and details of those grounds. This should not prevent the authority or person that lodged the opposition from adding and developing further details in the course of the consultations referred to in Article 51(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.
(75)
The procedure for the approval of amendments to product specifications laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be simplified by introducing a distinction between Union amendments and standard amendments. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, Member States should be responsible for approving standard amendments and the Commission should retain responsibility for approving Union amendments to product specifications. Provision should be made to ensure that there is sufficient time to facilitate a smooth transition from the rules provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 concerning amendments to product specifications to the new rules laid down in this Regulation.
(76)
In light of the increasing demand from Union consumers of beeswax, its growing use in the food sector, and its close link to agricultural products and to the rural economy, the list of agricultural products and foodstuffs laid down in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be extended to cover that product.
(77)
In view of the limited number of registrations of geographical indications of aromatised wine products under Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (21) the legal framework for the protection of geographical indications for those products should be simplified. Aromatised wine products and other alcoholic beverages, with the exceptions of spirit drinks and of grapevine products listed in Annex VII, Part II, to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, should have the same legal regime and procedures as other agricultural products and foodstuffs. The scope of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be extended to cover those products. Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 should be amended to take account of this change as regards its title, scope and definitions and as regards the provisions concerning the labelling of aromatised wine products. A smooth transition for the names protected under Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 should be ensured.
(78)
In order to facilitate trade with third countries, it should be laid down that Member States may allow that aromatised wine products produced for export include on the package or on a label attached thereto sales denominations required by third countries, including in languages other than the official languages of the Union, provided that the appropriate sales denominations set out in Annex II also appear on the package or on a label attached thereto.
(79)
The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing the sales denominations and descriptions of aromatised wine products laid down in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 in order to adapt them to take account of technical progress, scientific and market developments, consumer health or consumer needs for information.
(80)
In order to provide a higher level of information to consumers, the compulsory labelling of aromatised wine products with a nutrition declaration and a list of ingredients should be added to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014. However, producers should have the option of limiting the contents of the nutrition declaration on the package or on a label attached thereto to only the energy value and of making the full nutrition declaration and the list of ingredients available by electronic means, provided that they avoid any collection or tracking of user data and do not provide information aimed at marketing purposes. However, the option of not providing a full nutritional declaration on the package or on a label attached thereto should not affect the existing requirement that the label list substances causing allergies or intolerances. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of supplementing Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 by laying down detailed rules for the indication and designation of ingredients for aromatised wine products. The marketing of existing stocks of aromatised wine products should be allowed to continue after the dates of application of the new labelling requirements until those stocks are exhausted. Operators should be allowed sufficient time to adjust to the new labelling requirements before they become applicable.
(81)
It is appropriate to allow the addition of a limited quantity of spirit drinks to flavour the aromatised wines in any of the categories laid down in Annex II, point A, to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014. Since technical progress nowadays enables the production of vermouth without the addition of alcohol, it should no longer be required to add alcohol to vermouth. Given consumer demand, it is appropriate to allow the combination of red and white wine to produce Glühwein. In order to take into account an aromatised wine-based drink existing on the Polish market, it is appropriate to create the new category ‘wino ziołowe’, setting out in Union law the traditional requirements for its production.
(82)
Given its small size, remoteness and specific situation concerning food security, local markets in Réunion are particularly vulnerable to price fluctuations. Interbranch organisations bring together producers and other operators of different stages of the food supply chain and can play a role in supporting the maintenance and diversification of local production. In the specific context of food security in Réunion, it is appropriate to provide, by way of derogation from Article 165 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, that where rules of a recognised interbranch organisation are extended to operators who are not members of the interbranch organisation, France may decide, after consulting the relevant stakeholders, that operators who are not members of the interbranch organisation are required to pay financial contributions for the activities covered by extended rules which are in the general economic interest of economic operators whose activities are solely carried out in Réunion in relation to products which are destined for the local market.
(83)
Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 251/2014 and (EU) No 228/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(84)
Transitional arrangements should be put in place for applications for protection and for the registration of protected designations of origin, geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed that have been submitted before the date of entry into force of this Regulation, for the expenditure incurred before 1 January 2023 under the aid schemes for olive oil and table olives, fruit and vegetables, wine, apiculture and hops, for operational programmes of recognised producer organisations or their associations in the fruit and vegetables sector and for support programmes in the wine sector established in Articles 29 to 60 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(85)
In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new legal framework laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 linked to that new legal framework should apply from 1 January 2023.
(86)
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the measures envisaged and as a matter of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,
