The European Commission indicated at the Agriculture Council on Tuesday 23 March that it is opposed at this stage to the release of additional aid for the wine sector (see EUROPE 12646/3).
“In view of the severity and duration of the crisis, I suggest making the best use of the tools and flexibilities available to Member States and to the wine sector to address the supply situation”, said Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.
The Spanish minister, Luis Planas, supported by 13 other Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic), called for an additional budget to be allocated to programmes supporting the wine sector. Germany, Luxembourg and Poland also reportedly supported the requests of these 14 countries.
Wojciechowski explained that in light of the difficulties faced by the economy in general, it is difficult to justify giving more support to a sector that already receives more than €1 billion in support per year. The Commission has already increased the rate of EU support for all measures financed under the EU wine programmes by 20%.
In a letter sent to the Commissioner for Agriculture on Friday 26 March, the co-chairs of the Parliament’s wine intergroup, Irène Tolleret (Renew Europe, France), Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez (EPP, Spain) and Pina Picierno (S&D, Italy), call for the extension beyond 15 October 2021 of the exceptional measures introduced by the Commission (crisis distillation and private storage).
They recall that the EU budget for national wine support programmes has been cut by 3.9%. “Therefore, we consider it necessary to increase the financial allocations to those programmes, as requested” by these Member States.
Finally, MEPs call for the setting up of a high-level group to “assess the situation of the wine sector”. Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/3ss9OEZ (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)