Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages^f1, and in particular Article 27(4) thereof,

Whereas:

The Commission Regulation (EC) No 3199/93^f2 provides that the denaturants which are employed in each Member State for the purposes of completely denaturing alcohol in accordance with Article 27(1)(a) of Directive 92/83/EEC are to be described in the Annex to that Regulation.

Pursuant to Article 27(1)(a) of Directive 92/83/EEC, Member States are required to exempt from excise duty alcohol which has been completely denatured in accordance with the requirements of any Member State, provided that such requirements have been duly notified and accepted in accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 of that Article.

Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia have communicated the denaturants which they intend to employ.

The Commission transmitted the said communications to the other Member States on 1 May 2004.

Objections have been received to the requirements notified.

Regulation (EC) No 3199/93 should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Excise Duties,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: