On Monday 3 May, the European Commission once again said that there was no money left in the EU agricultural budget to help wine producers, who are in difficulty due to frost damage (see EUROPE 12707/13).
The Assembly of European Wine Regions (AREV) organised a webinar on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) on Monday, during which MEPs and representatives of the sector called for extraordinary funds for the EU wine sector, which is in difficulty due to US tariffs, the effects of the pandemic and the frost that damaged vines in France and in Italy.
But the Commission remained firm. “The CAP budget is capped and has already been distributed; it is no longer possible for the European Commission to find money in the current budget”, said Joao Onofre, head of the wine unit at the Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) for Agriculture.
Otherwise, direct payments in other sectors (such as milk) would have to be reduced, he added.
The Commission has never intervened financially for climate consequences, the Commission representative noted. The five billion euros (estimated expenditure needed due to the freeze) would be equivalent to a 15% cut in direct payments, the Commission said.
On the other hand, Mr Onofre pointed out that the instruments for preventing climate risks “are there (mutual funds and crop insurance), but they are not used”, especially in France.
AREV Secretary General Francisco Martínez Arroyo spoke of the “difficult times” the sector is going through. He called, as did 17 EU Agriculture Ministers, for extraordinary resources for the sector. “The viability of the sector depends on this support”, he insisted.
Angel Villafranca Lara, President of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, also called for an extraordinary budget for the wine sector, including through the funds available under the Next Generation EU recovery plan after the Covid-19 crisis.
Progress in the reform. MEP Pina Picierno (S&D, Italy) also acknowledged that the sector is “suffering”. She welcomed the progress made in the negotiations on the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP), including the extension until 2045 of the system of vineyard authorisations.
Plenary debate in May. Irène Tolleret (Renew Europe, France) stressed: “we are going to have more violent, more frequent and more widespread climate incidents”. It is therefore necessary to find effective solutions to increase the resistance of crops to climate problems.
At the May plenary, an oral question from the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture will be put to the Commission on the effects of frost on crops. Ms Tolleret defended new innovative techniques, such as “gene editing”, which could allow for the introduction of more resistant varieties. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)