Brussels, 19/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 December, the EU member states welcomed the conclusions of the high-level group on wine. This group took position in favour of setting in place a vine planting authorisation regime which will create a framework for wine-making potential for all types of vines (PDO, PGI and wines with no geographical indication), thereby avoiding an uncontrolled increase in vine-planted surface area in the EU (see EUROPE 10753).
At Wednesday's Agriculture Council, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Austria generally welcomed the conclusions of the high-level group, stating that a system is being sketched out which will make it possible to replace planting rights with a new authorisation and monitoring system for area which can be planted with vines. These countries await the legislative proposals of the Commission, which would rather deal with the matter in the framework of debates on the reform of the common agriculture policy (CAP), rather than in the framework of the legislative package (as with the dairy sector). Germany is awaiting more concrete elements such as criteria, limits and a solution which is not indefinitely renewable.
Only the delegation of the United Kingdom called for these planting rights to go, on the grounds that the competitiveness of European wines has improved. (LC/transl.fl).