Brussels, 10/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 April, Copa and Cogeca welcomed the main thrust of new EU authorisation scheme for vine plantings (see EUROPE 11291) and called for current support measures to continue beyond 2018.
Chairman of Copa-Cogeca Wine Working Party Thierry Coste said that the new scheme, which is set to come into force on 1 January 2016, is a step forward compared to the political decision made in 2008. “We are pleased that the need for a single regulatory framework for all member states and for all types of wine has been recognised”, he commented. The new legislation is in line with the conclusions of the high-level group on vine plantings, in Coste's view. The EU, he pointed out, is the number one wine exporter in the world, worth €9 billion in 2013. The new rules will enable the sector to continue to grow at the same time as recognising the need to protect wines with geographical indication against fraud and imitation, Copa- Cogeca states.
An external study on the competitiveness of the wine sector underlines that the support programmes in the single common market organisation (CMO) have, like promotional and restructuring measures, strongly improved the performance of the sector. “We therefore call for these measures to continue beyond 2018”, Copa-Cogeca says.
“Another important factor to enhance the competitivity of the sector is the EU system of geographical indications (GIs) which protects our quality products from imitations. To improve the performance of the sector, it is crucial to ensure that this system of GIs is better recognised and protected in the upcoming trade talks like between the EU and US, the EU and Japan and EU and China”, Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen added.
The Commission underlined that a recent external study concluded that, despite growth in the volume and value of EU exports to third countries since 2008 and a marked improvement in the trade balance, the EU continues to lose market share on world markets. Furthermore, the total consumption at world level is forecasted to increase up to 2025, while continuing to decrease overall in the EU. Therefore, this market trend shows that the EU wine sector will be increasingly depending on exports in the future, the Commission says. (Lionel Changeur)