The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI) told a meeting of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Wine, Spirits and Quality Foodstuffs, on Monday 20 April, that it would present measures to help the wine sector in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Commission representative told MEPs that two delegated acts and two implementing regulations would be presented in order to provide, in particular, for two new market measures: - crisis distillation (including for the manufacture of hydroalcoholic gel) and aid for private storage.
DG AGRI indicated that it was also considering the possibility of a 'partial green harvest' to reduce the volumes of the next harvest. Green harvesting is a practice designed to reduce the quantity of grapes.
The representative of the Commission also pointed out that there were no funds available in the EU 2020 budget for new market expenditure. The release of funds must take place at a high political level, said the representative of the DG AGRI.
Several MEPs stressed that the current exceptional circumstances require exceptional funds. They also called for unspent funds under the national support programmes in the wine sector to be frozen this year in order to transfer them to the next budget year.
The representatives of the organisations called for the activation of a crisis distillation scheme. The members of the intergroup and the representatives of the sector also advocated the introduction of other measures (private storage to improve producers' cash flow and total or partial 'green harvesting' to reduce wine volumes).
Finally, the intergroup asked the European Commission to continue its discussions with the United States with the aim of suspending the 25% increase in customs tariffs introduced in October 2019 on European exports of certain European wines and spirits. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)