Council Decision (EU) 2020/1790 of 16 November 2020 authorising Portugal to apply a reduced rate of excise duty on certain alcoholic products produced in the autonomous regions of Madeira and of the Azores

By way of derogation from Article 110 TFEU, Portugal is hereby authorised to apply a rate of excise duty lower than the full rate on alcohol set in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 92/84/EEC in the autonomous region of Madeira on locally produced and consumed rum and liqueurs and in the autonomous region of the Azores on locally produced and consumed rum, liqueurs and eaux-de-vie.

By way of derogation from Article 110 TFEU, Portugal is hereby authorised to apply a rate of excise duty lower than the full rate on alcohol set in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 92/84/EEC on rum and liqueurs produced in the autonomous region of Madeira when consumed on mainland Portugal and on rum, liqueurs and eaux-de-vie produced in the autonomous region of the Azores when consumed on mainland Portugal.

1 In the autonomous region of Madeira the authorisation set out in Articles 1 and 2 shall be limited to the following products: (a) until 24 May 2021, to rum as defined in point 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council , having the geographical indication ‘Rum da Madeira’ referred to in point 1 of Annex III to that Regulation, and from 25 May 2021, to rum as defined in point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council , having the geographical indication ‘Rum da Madeira’; (b) until 24 May 2021, to liqueurs and ‘crème de’ as defined in points 32 and 33 respectively of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, produced from regional fruit or plants, and from 25 May 2021, to liqueurs and ‘crème de’ as defined in points 33 and 34 respectively of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787, produced from regional fruit or plants.

2 In the autonomous region of the Azores, the authorisation set out in Articles 1 and 2 shall be limited to the following products: (a) until 24 May 2021, to rum as defined in point 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, produced from regional sugarcane, and from 25 May 2021, to rum as defined in point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787, produced from regional sugarcane; (b) until 24 May 2021, to liqueurs and ‘crème de’ as defined in points 32 and 33 respectively of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, produced from regional fruit or raw materials, and from 25 May 2021, to liqueurs and ‘crème de’ as defined in points 33 and 34 respectively of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787, produced from regional fruit or raw materials; (c) until 24 May 2021, to eaux-de-vie made from wine or grape marc having the characteristics and qualities as defined in points 4 and 6 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, and from 25 May 2021, to eaux-de-vie made from wine or grape marc having the characteristics and qualities as defined in points 4 and 6 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787.

The reduced rate of excise duty applicable to the products referred to in Article 1 of this Decision may be lower than the minimum rate of excise duty on alcohol set by Directive 92/84/EEC, but may not be more than 75 % lower than the standard national excise duty on alcohol.

The reduced rate of excise duty applicable to the products referred to in Article 2 of this Decision may be lower than the minimum rate of excise duty on alcohol set by Directive 92/84/EEC, but may not be more than 50 % lower than the standard national excise duty on alcohol.

By 30 September 2025 at the latest, Portugal shall submit a monitoring report to the Commission to enable it to assess whether the conditions justifying the authorisation set out in Articles 1 and 2 continue to be fulfilled. The monitoring report shall contain the information set out in the Annex.

This Decision shall apply from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2027.

This Decision is addressed to the Portuguese Republic.