Activites

• 1997/02/14 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 1997/4
  • OJ L 043 14.02.1997, p. 0021
• 1997/01/27 Final act signed
• 1997/01/27 End of procedure in Parliament
• 1996/12/30 Decision by Council, 3rd reading
• 1996/12/10 Decision by Parliament, 3rd reading
  • T4-0659/1996 summary

    Parliament approved the joint text for a Directive amending Directive 79/112/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs. �

• 1996/12/09 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    The rapporteur, Mr Schnellhardt (EPP, D), thought that the conciliation process had turned out very well for Parliament and, by extension, for the consumer. The most important amendments were to be taken over by the Directive, and more especially the derogations granted were to be included directly in the final text together with those provisions relating to starch. The rapporteur concluded by recalling that Commissioner Bangemann had been in favour of a proposal for a directive on the labelling of alcoholic products. Commissioner Monti declared that the Commission had been won over by the current compromise and had welcomed the improvement in the information being provided to consumers and the fact that this directive would promote the free movement of foodstuffs within the single market. Finally, he said that the Commission had undertaken to present a new proposal for a directive on the labelling of alcoholic drinks.

• 1996/12/05 Report tabled for plenary, 3rd reading
  • A4-0406/1996
• 1996/11/28 Joint text approved by Conciliation Committee co-chairs
  • 3626/1996
• 1996/10/16 Formal meeting of Conciliation Committee
• #1899
• 1995/12/22 Council Meeting
• 1995/10/25 Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading
  • T4-0497/1995 summary

    In adopting the recommendation by Mr SCHNELLHARDT (PPE, D), the European Parliament amended various aspects of the Council's common position: - it reintroduced an amendment relating to the trade description of foodstuffs, which should correspond to the name provided for in the European Community provisions applicable to it or, in the absence of such provisions, to the name customary in the Member State in which it is sold to the final consumer. The sales name used in the Member State of production should be supplemented by further information on the label (where this was necessary to prevent confusion with a comparable product in the Member State of marketing); - it added a derogation for products comprising a single ingredient (where the trade name was identical with the ingredient name or where the trade name enabled the nature of the ingredient to be clearly identified); - it stipulated that starches or modified starches that may contain "gluten" should always be described with their designation of origin. �

• 1995/10/24 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    The rapporteur stated that the aim was not to frighten consumers but simply to inform them, since the goal was to facilitate trade within the Union for both producers and consumers. The most important amendments related to the labelling of genetically modified organisms (Amendment No 4), and the labelling of alcoholic beverages, especially wine (Amendments Nos 6, 14, 15 and 16). Commissioner Bangemann confirmed that the Commission could take over Amendments Nos 2, 5, 11, 18, 19, and 21; it could not, however, take over Amendments Nos 3, 4, 6, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 22.

• 1995/10/17 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
  • A4-0250/1995
• 1995/06/29 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• 1995/06/15 Council position published
  • 06415/1/1995 summary

    The Council finally adopted this common position, with the German delegation voting against, which took over two of Parliament's amendments that the Commission had incorporated in its amended proposal: - With regard to the name under which a product was sold, the Council completely redrafted Article 5 of Directive 79/112/EEC in order to take account of developments in the relevant case law of the Court of Justice (Smanor judgment, judgment in the "vinegar" case). The reference to the regulations governing designations of origin and certificates of specific character requested by the EP was rejected; - With regard to the indication of quantities of ingredients, the Council clarified certain principles with a view to facilitating their application in practice. Certain exceptions were included for cases where the indication of the quantity of an ingredient did not govern the choice of the consumer (e.g. rye bread, malt whisky). The amendment aimed at clarifying the concept of "relief" was accepted; - With regard to the technical aspect of products consisting of a single ingredient, the Council preferred to refer to the procedure of the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs to define products consisting of a single ingredient where it was necessary to clarify the nature of that ingredient; - With regard to the language used on labelling, the Council responded to Parliament's concerns (the language should be easily understood by the consumer), whilst incorporating certain changes to take account of specific national characteristics; - With regard to the deadline for implementation, the Council followed the EP's guidelines and set a deadline of 36 months after the entry into force of the directive; - With regard to the labelling of alcoholic drinks, the Council did not manage to find a solution; - Finally, with regard to the definition of small packaging, the Council did not accept the EP's amendment which was included in the Commission's amended proposal and which aimed to increase the largest surface area of small packaging from 10 cm2 to 25 cm2. �

• #1838
• 1995/03/30 Council Meeting
• #1815
• 1994/12/08 Council Meeting
• 1994/04/12 Modified legislative proposal published
  • COM(1994)0024 summary

    The Commission's amended proposal took account of the European Parliament's amendments concerning: - the reference to the EEC regulations on designations of origin and certificates of specific character; - the extension of the definition of small packaging; - the submission of a report to the European Parliament on the exemptions that could be adopted for certain foodstuffs in the context of vertical directives. In addition, the Commission approved in part the amendments concerning: - the criteria for applying the principle of indicating the quantities of ingredients where it clarified the concept of relief; - the deadline for banning products that did not comply with the directive, namely 30 June 1994, which corresponded to the 24-month period proposed by the European Parliament. Finally, the Commission rejected the amendments concerning: - the inclusion of a definition of foodstuff; - the requirement to include the trade description alongside the brandname or mark; - the inclusion of a specific reference when the foodstuff or one of its ingredients had been genetically modified; - the compulsory indication of the source of the starches listed in Annex I to the directive; - the inclusion of the official language of the Member State where the product was sold; - the amendment to Annex III concerning the indication of flavourings in the list of ingredients. �

• 1993/12/02 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T3-0683/1993 summary

    In its first reading under the codecision procedure, the European Parliament confirmed its vote of 27 October 1993. �

• 1993/11/24 Committee report tabled for plenary confirming Parliament's position
  • A3-0365/1993
• 1993/11/24 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 1993/10/27 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T3-0533/1993 summary

    When adopting an addendum to the report by Mrs Langenhagen (PPE, D), the European Parliament explained in particular that the labelling rules for ingredients in beverages with an alcoholic strength of more than 1.2% by volume are applicable within two years of the entry into force of the directive. The sale of products not conforming to the directive within 24 months of its entry into force (48 months for all beverages with an alcoholic content of over 1.2% by volume) is prohibited. The Commission is to report to the European Parliament on any anomalies and derogations to the directive within three years. Member States must ensure that they prohibit foodstuffs being offered for sale in their territories if the information specified in Article 3 and Article 4(2) does not appear in the official language or languages of the Member State where the product is offered for sale, unless other steps are taken to inform purchasers. Foodstuffs, processing aids and flavourings produced or constituted by genetically modified organisms must be shown in the list of ingredients and marked to indicate that they have been produced by genetic engineering methods or contain genetically modified organisms. �

• 1993/07/20 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 1993/07/14 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • COM(1991)0536 summary

• 1993/07/13 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

• 1993/06/29 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A3-0219/1993
• 1992/06/08 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading

Documents

• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A3-0219/1993
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: COM(1991)0536
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T3-0533/1993
• Committee report tabled for plenary confirming Parliament's position: A3-0365/1993
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T3-0683/1993
• Modified legislative proposal published: COM(1994)0024
• Council position published: 06415/1/1995
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A4-0250/1995
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T4-0497/1995
• Joint text approved by Conciliation Committee co-chairs: 3626/1996
• Report tabled for plenary, 3rd reading: A4-0406/1996
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 3rd reading: T4-0659/1996
• : Directive 1997/4
• : OJ L 043 14.02.1997, p. 0021

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)