Brussels, 29/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Speaking before representatives of the wine-making profession on Thursday 28 July, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, pledged that France would fight moves to scrap vine planting rights. Getting rid of these vine planting rights will, under the timetable for the reform of the wine sector, enter into force on 1st January 2016. At the moment, 12 countries wish to overturn this decision. It will take 14.
“We want a well-regulated Europe, and a well-regulated world. If we allow vines to be planted wherever there is land available, the capacity of supply will explode (...) and we will end up with viticulture dying out”, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. If the Commission “does not think better of this, it will scupper all our efforts to restructure. It will be the death knell for the sector. When we have our qualified majority, we will reopen the dossier”, he said.
Legislation. The reform of December 2007 of the common market organisation (CMO) for wine provides for planting rights to be scrapped under the following timetable: - on 1st January 2016, the ban on planting will be removed at European level; - up to 31 December 2018, countries which so choose will be able to extend the planting rights system; - as of 1st January 2019, all countries must scrap the planting rights system. This will mean that anyone will be able to plant vines wherever they choose.
Group of 12 countries. At the moment, 12 member states of the EU (representing 189 votes) are opposed to the liberalisation of planting rights in Europe. In order to reverse the decision on liberalising planting rights, a proposal of the Commission is required, followed by a decision of the 27 member states of the European Union, in agreement with the European Parliament. In order to obtain a majority of the vote within the European Union, 14 member states and 255 votes must be gathered. It will take another two member states and 66 votes to be able to win the ballot. This means that the lobbying of the other wine-producing countries (Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Malta) must continue, but it will still not be enough as the producer countries represent just 218 votes. Sooner or later, it will be necessary to call for the support of one or more consumer countries.
Brief background. On 14 April 2011, nine producer countries (Germany, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Portugal and Romania) informed the Commission in writing that they were in favour of the rules for planting rights to be kept in place beyond 2015. They called for Community rules to be amended before 1st January 2016 in order to keep in place a framework for the planting of vines at European level and for all varietals. In early May, Spain stated its opposition to the liberalisation of planting rights and at the end of that month, the Czech Republic in turn declared itself against the liberalisation of planting rights, which brought the number of countries on board to 11. Lastly, Slovakia has just added itself to the list, which now consists of 12 countries.
Commission's response. The Commission points out that in 2012, it is set to adopt an interim report on the wine CMO and that discussions on planting rights could then take place. In particular, it states that any countries of the EU which so wish will be able to keep the system of planting rights in place until 2018. However, the countries which are opposed to the liberalisation of planting rights are calling for all countries to keep this regime, not just the ones which choose to, in order to avoid market distortions.
Commenting on the visit of President Sarkozy to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, MEP Christine de Veyrac (EPP, France) welcomed France's intentions of reopening the dossier on the liberalisation of planting rights for vines. In a press release published on Friday 29 July, she points out that “the scheduled end of vine planting rights will lead to a crisis of overproduction, will create a bit more imbalance on the market, and will end with wine revenues plummeting”. She adds: “President Sarkozy has just announced that France had taken the initiative of starting consultations with a view to forming a majority coalition in Europe. We will be supporting his efforts at the European Parliament”. (L.C./transl.fl)