No L 211/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 8. 85 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2260/85 | of 29 July 1985 laying down, for the 1985/86 wine-growing year, detailed rules for the application of Article 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 THE COMMISSION 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 (!), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 798/85 (%), and in particular Articles 6 (3), 39 (8) and 65 thereof, Whereas the operations referred to in Article 39 of’ Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 are to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2179/83 of 25 July 1983 laying down general rules for distillation operations involving wine and the by-products of wine-making (*), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2687/84 (*); Whereas it is necessary to determine both the condi- tions for the fulfilment by producers of the obligations laid down in Article 39 (2) and (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79, and the obligations incumbent on distillers ; Whereas wine producers are required to deliver for distillation a quantity of product with an alcohol content which corresponds to a percentage of the volume of alcohol naturally contained in the grapes used to produce the wine ; whereas the Commission is required to fix that percentage within a given upper limit ; Whereas it is particularly difficult in practice to calcu- late the quantity of product to be delivered in relation to the alcohol content of the grapes used, primarily on account of the significant fluctuations in the relation- ship between the grapes used and the wine obtained, depending on the grape varieties ; whereas, by contrast, these difficulties are obviated and checks made - simpler and more efficient if the same calculation is carried out in relation to the alcohol contained in the wine ; whereas this method of calculation also enables the economic objective of the measure to be met without producers being required to deliver larger quantities ; () OJ No L 54, 5. 3. 1979, p. 1. () O] No L 89, 29. 3. 1985, p. 1. ¢) O] No L 212, 3. 8. 1983, p. 1. () OJ No L 255, 25. 9. 1984, p. 1. Whereas, in accordance with Article 13 (3) of Regula- tion (EEC) No 2179/83, producers who deliver their grape marc for the manufacture of oenocyanin qualify for a reduced percentage ; whereas, taking into account the fact that the alcohol contained in the marcs repre- sents a substantial proportion of the quantity of alcohol to be delivered, the reduced percentage should be fixed at 3 % ; whereas, pursuant to the same provi- sion, producers of white quality wines psr qualify for a reduced rate ; whereas experience in preceding wine- growing years suggest that this rate should be fixed at 5% ; Whereas, for the purpose of determining the quantity of alcohol to be contained in the products to be deli- vered, it is also necessary to fix, in accordance with Article 39 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79, a stan- dard natural alcoholic strength for each wine-growing year and each wine-growing zone ; whereas, however, by virtue of Article 39 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79, producers in certain zones are not subject to the obligation in question ; whereas, in the absence of precise information on the alcoholic strength of wines for the coming wine-growing year, this determination may be undertaken by reference to the average strengths recorded in the wine-growing zones concerned in previous wine-growing years, taking into account improvements in quality ; whereas, however, it is necessary to allow for the possibility of altering the alcoholic strength referred to above before the date on which distillation of the wine commences in order to take account of the quality of the vintage; whereas, moreover, experience has shown that provision should be made for the adoption of different alcoholic strengths for administrative units which, having suffered from exceptionally bad weather conditions, are recognized as disaster areas by Member States ; Whereas the fixing of the buying-in price for by-products of wine-making should take account, on the one hand, of the need to ensure that all producers fulfil the obligation to distil in every respect and, on the other hand, of the level of the market price for alcohol distilled from wine ; Whereas, in order to ensure that the arrangements are as effective as possible, provision should be made for placing certain time limits on the operations to be carried out by producers and distillers ; Whereas the distillation products of certain wines subject to the obligation referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 should not be allowed to disturb the market in wine spirits with a registered