29.11. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 320/9 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3309/85 of 18 November 1985 laying down general rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines THE COUNCIL 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 3307/85(?), and in particular Article 54 (1) and Article 64 (2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (3), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (4), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (7), Whereas Article 54 of Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 makes provision for the adoption of general rules for the description and presentation of products in the wine sector; whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 355/79 (¢), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1898/85 (7), has laid down general rules for the description and presentation of wines and grape musts; whereas general rules should also be established for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines; Whereas the purpose of description and presentation should always be to provide potential final consumers and public bodies responsible for organizing and supervising the marketing of the products concerned with sufficiently clear and accurate information to enable them to form an opinion of the products; whereas rules should therefore be drawn up to ensure that this purpose is served; Whereas, in the case of descriptive items, a distinction should be made between mandatory information needed to identify a sparkling or aerated sparkling wine and optional information designed mainly to indicate the intrinsic qualities of a product or to distinguish it sufficiently from other products in the same category which compete with it on the marker; ' (1) OJ No L 54,5.3.1979, p. 1. (2) See page 1 of this Official Journal. (3) OJ No(C 120,5.5.1983,p.3,and O] No C 182,9. 7. 1984, p- 21. (*) OJNoC77,19.3.1984,p. 146,and OJ] No C 12,14. 1. 1985, p- 1. (*) OJ No C 358, 31. 12. 1983, p. 59. (¢) O] No L 54, 5. 3.1979, p. 99. (7} O] No L 179, 11. 7. 1985, p. 1. Whereas it is important to draw up a full list of mandatory information -and define the conditions under which this - information may be used ‘in the description of sparkling wines or aerated sparkling wines; Whereas various terms are traditionally used in the Community for the sales description of quality sparkling wines; whereas, in order to assist final consumers in their choice, it should be provided that the sales description of these products should consist of one of these terms, without the term ‘Sekt’ being allowed to serve indirectly as a geographical description of a sparkling wine; Whereas, in order to facilitate the marketing of the said products, it should be left to the parties concerned to choose which optional information they wish to include, without provision of an exhaustive list; whereas the choice of optional information should nevertheless be restricted to details which are not inaccurate or liable to create confusion in the minds of final consumers or others for whom the information is intended; Whereas, in order to establish conditions for fair competition on the market in sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines, special rules should be laid down for the use of certain optional items of information of a prestigious nature which may enhance the value of products so described; whereas provision should also be made for additional rules to be laid down at Community level by means of implementing provisions; Whereas, on the one hand, a producer or vendor normally has no difficulty in demonstrating the accuracy of the information on the label to the competent authorities; whereas, on the other hand, those authorities do not always have direct access to the information sources of the producer or vendor; whereas, therefore, in order to increase the effectiveness of action by the authorities responsible for monitoring and controlling compliance with Community provisions in the sparkling wine sector, provision should be made to enable the said authorities, under the procedures applicable in the Member State in which they perform their duties, to require, where appropriate in cooperation with the competent authorities of the other Member States, the producer or vendor responsible for the information carried on the label to furnish proof of the accuracy of the terms used in the description; whereas provision should also be made that terms whose accuracy cannot be proved should be regarded as not complying with Community provisions; Whereas, bearing in mind the international obligations of the Community and the Member States regarding protection of registered designations of origin or geographical descriptions of wines, it should be laid down that the use of terms relating