Brussels, 18/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - French wine producers failed on Wednesday 18 March in their challenge before the General Court of the EU to the European regulation that requires them to distil their non-exported surplus wine into eau-de-vie that is unfit for human consumption.
Using their own unauthorised distillation plant, 31 French producers turned their excess wine into brandy. European Regulation 1493/99 on the common organisation of the market in wine requires producers to distil their non-exported surplus wine into a spirit of at least 92% vol, that is, unfit for consumption.
The French authorities imposed fines and tax penalties on the producers for breaching the rules on compulsory distillation which states that only approved distillers are to be used or that approval for distillation must be granted.
The French producers challenged this decision before the General Court of the EU (joined cases T-195/11, T-458/11, T-448/12 and T-41/13) seeking to have the EU held contractually liable, arguing that the regulation at issue is illegal. They held the view that they had incurred undue damage by the fact that they themselves were not allowed to distil their surplus wine into brandy. They were seeking over €4 million for damage caused and €100,000 for pain and suffering.
The Court, in several rulings, rejected the claim, concluding that the producers had failed to prove that the damage they say they suffered was a result of the market mechanism put in place by the regulation. The Court found that the French authorities had imposed sanctions for breach of the compulsory distillation mechanism through their failure to use approved distillers, and not simply for turning their excess wine into eau-de-vie that is safe for human consumption. There was, therefore, no causal link between the European regulation and the claimed pecuniary loss. (Jan Kordys)