Presidency seeks wine deal

The Portuguese presidency of the EU will next Wednesday (26 September) step up efforts to strike an agreement on reform of EU wine-making practices.

A regulation to open the EU wine sector to more competition was proposed by the European Commission in July, in the face of fears that it would put many traditional vineyards out of business.

Agriculture ministers on Wednesday will hold formal talks on the plan for the first time since July, when large wine-making countries such as France, Spain and Italy criticised the proposal. Portugal says that it hopes to resolve national differences before its six months in the rotating EU presidency end on 31 December.

Next week’s Agriculture Council meeting will look for ways to resolve difficulties in two areas: a ban on adding sugar to wine, a practice adopted in many cooler EU countries including Slovakia, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria, and the abolition of planting rights.

Portugal will ask ministers to support a slower phasing in of the ban on sugar enrichment and planting rights than that proposed by the Commission. Portugal is also suggesting exemptions to the ban on planting rights for some of the finest geographical indication (GI) wines.

"These are not the most sensitive topics," said one Council official. "There is a feeling that if we can get agreement here it will leave us time to focus on the most difficult issues."

According to the official, these are changes to labelling rules, the grubbing up of 200,000 hectares of vineyards (6% of the EU total) and the allocation of funds.

The official said that all member states agreed that some kind of reform was needed, but that there was a desire to focus on the issues that would improve competitiveness. "I’m not convinced the abolition of planting rights will really improve our competitiveness," he said.

The Portuguese presidency of the EU will next Wednesday (26 September) step up efforts to strike an agreement on reform of EU wine-making practices.