Presidency faces battle to reform wine sector

The Portuguese presidency faces a battle to win EU-wide support this year for plans to reform the wine sector. The reform proposal was published yesterday (4 July) by the European Commission.

A Portuguese diplomat said that his government hoped to reach a deal on the regulation before its presidency ends on 31 December.

The proposal would scrap support payments for farmers producing wine that cannot be sold and could lead to the grubbing up of 200,000 hectares of vines. The EU today pays about €1.3 billion to distil unwanted wine. Uncompetitive wine producers pulling out of the market within the first five years would be paid compensation.

Plans to reform the wine sector have already sparked protests in France, Italy and Spain, which together grow 80% of EU vines. Wine-makers in Austria and Luxembourg are also unhappy about a proposed ban on adding sugar to wine, a practice common in colder European countries to boost alcohol content.

Another proposal likely to be opposed by governments is transferring power for authorising new wine-making practices from member states to the Commission. A Commission agriculture spokesman said that the transfer was necessary to speed up approvals, which can otherwise take months.

Copa-Cogeca, the European farmers’ federation, said that while it was willing to modernise, the Commission proposal would destroy centuries-old winemaking practices.

A coalition of French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese wine producers complained that, while the reform allocates €120 million to promoting EU wine in third countries, only €3m would go to promoting them within Europe, which currently buys 67% of the market.

The Commission’s spokes-man said that Europe already had programmes to promote its own wine, but that there were clear opportunities to develop markets abroad.

A French diplomat said that France was "worried" by the reform proposal. "We are not against the idea of reform, but we are against this," the diplomat said. "In particular we do not support the liberalisation of planting rights. This could encourage farmers to move to where it is easiest to grow vines - which means in the plains - and away from the more difficult hillside plantations which produce some of the most famous wines."

The Portuguese presidency faces a battle to win EU-wide support this year for plans to reform the wine sector. The reform proposal was published yesterday (4 July) by the European Commission.