24. 7. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 184/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1426/96 of 26 June 1996 amending Regulation (EEC) No 823/87 laying down special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parli- ament (3, Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas certain specific traditional terms have been recognized in Germany; whereas those terms should be included in Regulation (EEC) No 823/87 (%) to ensure protection in all Member States; Whereas, as a result of traditional practice in accordance with Spanish legislation, the term ‘Manzanilla’ has become equivalent to a geographical name used to desig- nate a quality wine psr; whereas there should be an excep- tion for this quality wines psr from the principle that the specified region from which it is obtained must be desig- nated by its geographical name and this product should be allowed to be designated by the traditional term referred to above; Whereas pursuant to Article 15(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 823/87 the name of specified region attributed by a Member State to a quality wine psr may not be used for the designation of other wine-sector products; whereas in some cases, however, authorization should be given for the creation of new designations of origin whose names were previously used for certain table wines; whereas provision should also be made for a transitional period (") OJ NoC15,20.1.1996, p. 5 and OJ No C 74, 14. 3. 1996, p. 12. (3 Opinion delivered on 21 June 1996 (O] No C 198, 8. 7. 1996). () Opinion delivered on 24 April 1996 (O] No C 204, 15. 7. 1996). () OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 59. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3011/95 (O] No L 314, 28. 12. 1995, p. 14). during which those names may be used concurrently to enable traditional users to adjust to the new situation; Whereas the marketing of beverages not falling within the wine sector and of certain basic raw materials to obtain those beverages, described by means of geographical designations normally used to describe wines, could confuse consumers as to the nature and origin of the product thus described and be detrimental to the interests of wine producers; whereas, therefore, for use of the said designations should not be allowed unless there is no risk of confusion or, in the light of the experience gained, especially as regards certain beverages more closely related to the wine sector, unless the geographical designation in question has been appropriately recognized, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 823/87 is hereby amended as follows: 1. the following indents shall be added to Article 15(2)(a): ‘— “Qualititswein garantierten Ursprungs”, — “Qualititschaumwein garantierten Ursprungs”; 2. in Atrticle 15(3) second subparagraph, the following indent shall be added: ‘— “Manzanilla”,’; 3. the third subparagraph of Article 15(4) shall be replaced by the following: ‘Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, may decide up to 31 August 2001, to authorize that certain geographical names traditionally used to describe a table wine which have become the name of a specified region may continue to be used also to describe table wines for a period of at most three wine years.’;