2008 wine reforms vex Romania and Bulgaria

The EU must make sure an upcoming reform of the wine sector does not clash with membership preparations in Bulgaria and Romania, according to officials from the two accession countries.

A proposal to reform the EU wine sector is due at the end of the year and could come into force during 2008. Romania and Bulgaria are expected to join the EU on 1 January 2007 and are currently bringing their wine markets in line with EU norms.

"It is very important we know what is likely to be introduced so we can adapt," said one Bulgarian diplomat. "It would be very stupid if we limited our wine potential for accession and then had to change it again two months later."

The two accession countries have very different wine markets. Bulgaria gets almost all of its wine from the Domaine Boyar producers, while Romania relies on several small wineries in different regions.

A Romanian diplomat said the 190,000 hectare litres of wine produced in his country needed to get more attention in the reform proposal than they had in the Commission's communication, presented in June.

He said that small Romanian enterprises might struggle to meet EU wine quality standards, especially if expensive new technologies became more widespread.

He added that other domestic complications would have to be taken on board. For instance, he suggested, some trademarks and hybrid grape varieties used in Romania have not been approved for use in the EU.

The wine sector reform aims to make EU viniculture more competitive, faced with falling European wine consumption and increasing sales of New World wines.

One Brussels wine trader said Romanian wines might need longer to adapt to a reform of the sector than Bulgarian wines. "The goal in Bulgaria has for a long time been to compete with New World wines and I must say they are doing a good job of it."

In the long run, however, he said the EU wine sector should benefit from the accession of the two countries: "The Romanian sector is currently not as well organised as the Bulgarian, but in the future Romanian wines might be seen as more interesting because they offer more diversity."

The communication from the Commission said the final reform would have to "make provision for the smooth integration of Bulgaria and Romania". Agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels last month echoed this concern.

The EU must make sure an upcoming reform of the wine sector does not clash with membership preparations in Bulgaria and Romania, according to officials from the two accession countries.