The European Commission has announced that it will extend by one year the validity of planting and replanting authorisations expiring in 2024 in regions affected by drought or excessive rainfalls, following the green light given by EU Member States on Wednesday 24 July.
Several regions in Spain, Italy and France will benefit from the measure, which will be adopted by the European Commission in the coming weeks. It will prevent the wine growers concerned from losing their authorisation due to extreme weather events, and will allow them to plant vines in 2025.
Under current legislation (Article 62 of Regulation 1308/2013 on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products - https://aeur.eu/f/d50 ), vine planting and replanting authorisations are generally valid for three years from the date on which they are granted. “Any producer who fails to use the authorisation granted to him during its period of validity will be subject to the penalties laid down”, according to the text.
During the period of validity of each authorisation, wine growers usually decide on the varieties and type of wine to produce in the new vineyards, prepare the soil in autumn or winter and select the new vines, which are then planted in spring (the most suitable period of the year for planting).
However, Spain and southern Italy have been suffering from persistent drought, while excessive rainfall affected northern Italy and France. Regions in other Member States were also affected by the bad weather.
As a result, wine growers have not been able to carry out certain operations in time - such as preparing the soil - necessary for planting vines and therefore may risk losing their soon-to-be expiring authorisations. This comes in a context when the wine sector is already suffering from unfavourable market conditions.
This is why the Commission has decided to extend the validity of planting and replanting authorisations by a further 12 months from their current expiry date in 2024. This extension concerns authorisations expiring in 2024 and intended for use in regions identified by Member States as having been affected by drought or excessive rainfalls in Winter or Spring 2024.
Link to the future regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/d4e (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)