Amendments to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/273

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/273 is amended as follows:

Article 2(1) is amended as follows:

point (a) is replaced by the following:

“winegrower” means a natural or legal person, or a group of natural or legal persons, whatever legal status is granted to the group and its members by national law, whose holding is situated within the Union territory, as defined in Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union in conjunction with Article 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and who holds an area planted with vines where the produce of this area is used for the commercial production of wine products, or the area benefits from the exemptions for experimental purposes, for setting-up collections of vine varieties intended to preserve genetic resources or for graft nurseries referred to in Article 3(2) of this Regulation;’;

point (c) is replaced by the following:

“vineyard parcel” means an agricultural parcel as defined in Article 67(4), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 planted with vines either aimed at the commercial production of wine products or benefitting from the exemptions for experimental purposes, for setting-up collections of vine varieties intended to preserve genetic resources or for graft nurseries referred to in Article 3(2) of this Regulation;’;

the following point (l) is added:

“collection of vine varieties” means a vineyard parcel planted with multiple vine wine varieties where each variety does not count more than 50 plants.’;

Paragraph 2 of Article 3 is amended as follows:

the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The planting or replanting of areas intended for experimental purposes, for setting-up collections of vine varieties intended to preserve genetic resources or for graft nurseries shall be subject to a prior notification to the competent authorities. The notification shall include all relevant information in respect of those areas and the period during which the experiment will take place, the collection of vine varieties will be maintained or the graft nursery will be in production. Extensions of such periods shall also be notified to the competent authorities.’;

in the second subparagraph, point (a) is replaced by the following:

obtain an authorisation in accordance with Article 64, 66 or 68 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the area concerned, so that the grapes produced in that area and the wine products obtained from those grapes can be marketed; or’;

after the third subparagraph, the following subparagraphs are added:

‘The exemption referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply to areas intended for setting-up collections of vine varieties only where the purpose of setting-up such collections is the preservation of the genetic resources of vine varieties which are typical of a certain wine-producing region and where the area covered by each collection does not exceed 2 hectares.

Member States may draw up a list of wine grape varieties classified in accordance with Article 81(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 on their territories, which are eligible at national or regional level for the purpose of setting up a collection of varieties for the preservation of genetic resources. Member States may also fix a maximum area for collections of such vine varieties below 2 hectares, as well as a maximum number of vines per variety lower than the ceiling laid down in Article 2(1), point (l) of this Regulation.’;

Article 6 is amended as follows:

the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Member States may restrict the replantings on the basis of Article 66(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, where the specific area to be replanted is located in an area for which the issuing of authorisations for new plantings is limited in accordance with Article 63(2), point (b), of that Regulation and provided that the decision is justified by the need to avoid a well-demonstrated risk of devaluation of a specific protected designation of origin (‘PDO’) or protected geographical indication (‘PGI’).’;

in the second paragraph, the introductory sentence is replaced by the following:

‘The risk of devaluation referred to in the first paragraph does not exist if:’;

Annex I is amended as follows:

in Part A, second paragraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

in Part B, second paragraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

Annex II is amended as follows:

Part B is amended as follows:

in point 1, first subparagraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

in point 2, first subparagraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

in point 4, second subparagraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

the following point 5 is inserted:

the applicant undertakes to maintain, for a minimum period of seven to 10 years, the area(s) to be newly planted with at least one of the varieties listed in the national list of vine varieties eligible for the conservation of the genetic resources drawn up by the Member State for that purpose. Such period shall not go beyond 31 December 2045.’;

in Part D, second subparagraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

Part F is replaced by the following:

Criterion referred to in Article 64(2), point (f), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

The criterion referred to in Article 64(2), point (f), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be considered as being fulfilled if the increased cost-efficiency or competitiveness or presence on the markets is established on the basis of one of the following considerations:

the product unit costs of the holding in the wine growing sector have decreased in a given year in comparison to the average of the preceding five years;

the holding has diversified distribution channels and/or a high demand for its products in a given year in comparison to the average of the preceding five years.

Member States may further detail the considerations listed in points (1) and (2).’;

Part H is replaced by the following:

Criterion referred to in Article 64(2), point (h), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

The criterion referred to in Article 64(2), point (h), of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be considered as being fulfilled provided that the area of vineyard parcels of the applicant’s holding complies at the time of the application with thresholds to be established by Member States at national or regional level on the basis of objective criteria. Such thresholds shall be set at:

no less than 0,1 hectares of vineyard parcels for small size holdings;

no more than 50 hectares of vineyard parcels for medium size holdings.

Areas planted with vines benefiting from the exemptions laid down in Article 62(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall not be taken into account for the calculation of the area of vineyard parcels.’;

In Part I, Section II, second subparagraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2045’;

in Annex IV, Section 1.2., point 1, the following point (c) is added:

areas planted or re-planted for setting-up collections of vine varieties intended to preserve genetic resources.’.

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2022/2566 of 13 October 2022 amending and correcting Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/273 as regards the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings