Brussels, 25/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Assembly of European Wine Regions (AREV) has come out as fairly critical of the compromise obtained at the Council on the wine plank of the CAP reform. AREV announces that it is opposed to the limit of 1% (which it feels is too high) for new plantings granted annually and the time limits in the new authorisation scheme for new plantings.
On the basis of a European wine-growing area of around three million hectares, this limit would make it possible to plant 100,000 new hectares every three years, or in the region of an additional five million hectolitres, whereas the Commission has just paid for 160,000 hectares to be grubbed up over three years. Additionally, a growth rate of this kind is “arbitrary, as it is not designed to be based on justifications of outlets”, AREV argues. It proposes the creation of a European viticulture observatory for more realistic management of production.
AREV welcomes the date of 2019 for the entry into force of the new planting authorisation regime (instead of 2016) but “vigourously rejects” the move to limit the duration of the new regime to 6 years. “The return to total freedom to plant in 2025 is unacceptable: the growth of the vine, a perennial plant, needs perennial regulation, for the greater good of the producers and consumers alike”, the AREV leaders stress, calling for substantial improvements in negotiations between the Council and the EP.
The European Federation of Origin Wines (EFOW) has called for “a more ambitious final agreement on the question of planting rights”, although the Council's negotiation mandate is by and large “satisfactory”, particularly as regards the date of entry into force of the new system, in 2019 rather than 2016. EFOW laments the fact that the planned duration of this regime is just six years and voices its reservations over plans to set the annual upper limit on new plantings at 1%. It feels that “0.5% better corresponds to the reality of requirements”. (LC/transl.fl)