17. 2. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 44/9 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 343/94 of 15 February 1994 opening compulsory distillation as provided for in Article 39 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 and derogating for the 1993/94 wine year from certain detailed rules for the application thereof THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine ("), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1566/93 (%), and in particular Article 39 (9), (10) and (11) thereof, Whereas the data available at present to the Commission, and in particular those in the forward estimate for the 1993/94 wine year, show that a feature of the current year is an imbalance on the market for table wine and wine suitable for yielding table wine ; whereas the conditions laid down in Article 39 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 for initiating compulsory distillation are therefore fulfilled ; Whereas in view of the prices and the desirable level of availability at the end of the year, the distillation of 18 200 000 hectolitres of table wine appears necessary in the Community ; whereas that quantity is based on the forward estimate to take account of the unbalanced situa- tion, characterized in particular by stocks carried over from one wine year to the next, which are higher than the estimates used as the basis for establishing the financial data for the wine year; Whereas the experience acquired in the previous marke- ting year of the option whereby grape must intended for the production after 15 March of products other than table wine may be deducted from the volume to be used for determining the quantity of wine to be delivered for distillation is inadequate for judging the effect of the measure ; whereas that option should be made available again in the current marketing year so that its impact can be assessed ; Whereas a large number of small producers of grapes belong to cooperative wineries or producer groups; whereas the articles of association of these organizations are such that in certain production regions the delivery obligation provided for in Article 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 falls on the organization as a whole and in others falls on the producers individually; whereas in () OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1. () OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 39. consequence there is a danger that the exemption provided for small producers will differ greatly in effect between regions ; whereas both this fact and the difficul- ties that were produced by the introduction of a dual exemption arrangement within regions must be taken into account for the fixing of the minimum quantity for delivery by producers; Whereas experience has shown that the fulfilment of a producer’s obligation through the delivery of wine obtained in a region of production other than that of the production of the said winegrower has contributed to the imbalance on the market in certain regions ; whereas the obligation should be considered as fulfilled only where wine delivered and wine which is the subject of the obli- gation are obtained from the same region; Whereas, in accordance with Article 39 (7) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, distillers may either receive aid in respect of the product to be distilled or deliver the product obtained from distillation to the intervention agency ; whereas the amount of the aid must be fixed on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 16 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2046/89 (), as amended by Regula- tion (EEC) No 1567/93 (%); Whereas the derogation provided for in the first subpara- graph of Article 39 (10) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 was extended for one wine year by Regulation (EEC) No 1566/93 ; whereas the detailed rules relating thereto must be extended for the same period; Whereas 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 1. Distillation as provided for in Article 39 (1) of Regu- lation (EEC) No 822/87 is hereby adopted for the 1993/94 wine year. 2. The total quantity of table wine to be distilled shall by 18 200 000 hectolitres. () OJ No L 202, 14. 7. 1989, p. 14. () O No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 41.