Amending certain agricultural products Regulations as regards certain market rules and sectoral support measures in the wine sector and for aromatised wine products
PURPOSE: to ensure that the European wine sector remains competitive, resilient and a vital economic force in the decades to come.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament acts in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: while the EU remains the global leader in wine production, wine consumption in the Union has been steadily declining and is at its lowest level of the past three decades, while traditional export markets for Union wines are impacted by a combination of de-consumption and geopolitical factors, leading to more uncertain export patterns. In addition, production is becoming unpredictable, given the wine sector’s vulnerability to climate change. With the resulting oversupply putting pressure on prices, winegrowers have less income to invest in their business and low financial reserves they can fall back on if one of the more frequent and often localised severe weather events hits their region.
The High-Level Group on Wine Policy (HLG) was established to discuss these challenges and identify possible opportunities for the Union wine sector. The HLG considered how to better support the sector in view of the current structural challenges by managing the production potential, enhancing competitiveness and exploring new market opportunities. After four meetings, the Group endorsed a document with policy recommendations.
In view of the positive reaction to the HLG recommendations, the most urgent and sector specific recommendations would be translated into legislative proposals as soon as possible to help the wine sector to face the serious challenges and to become more competitive.
CONTENT: the Commission proposal introduces targeted amendments to Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2021/2115 and (EU) No 251/2014 to help the European wine sector manage production potential, adapt to changing consumer preferences and open up new market opportunities.
The key changes to the wine policy framework are as follows:
- introduction of a longer validity period for replanting permits to give producers more time to study the possibility of planting varieties better suited to market demand or changing climatic conditions, or the possibility of using new vineyard management techniques;
- possibility for winegrowers who hold valid unused authorisations for new plantings and authorisations resulting from the conversion of planting rights granted to them before 1 January 2025 should be allowed to waive these authorisations without incurring an administrative penalty;
- possibility to limit the issuing of new planting authorisations at regional level for specific areas with excess supply where national or Union measures aimed to reduce the supply (i.e. distillation, green harvesting or grubbing up of vineyards) are or have been implemented in order to avoid further increasing the production potential;
- possibility for Member States to have the flexibility to set regional limits for specific areas as low as 0%, in view to adapting the production potential to the market demand to set rules for replanting in order to better manage the territorial distribution of vineyards and to set conditions relating to the use of varieties and production methods in order to avoid an increase in yields and to preserve traditional vine varieties and production methods;
- increased support to the sector to become more resilient to climate change. Member States can increase the maximum Union financial assistance up to 80% of the eligible investment costs for investments aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- clear marketing rules and common product denominations for lower alcohol wine products across the single market;
- a more harmonised approach to wine labelling, reducing costs and simplifying trade across EU borders while providing consumers with easy access to information;
- possibility for producer groups managing wine protected under geographical indications to receive assistance to develop wine-related tourism, helping to boost economic development in rural areas;
- extended promotion: the duration of EU-funded promotional campaigns for market consolidation in third countries will be extended from 3 to 5 years to ensure better promotion of European wines.