Esther Herranz García (EPP, Spanish), the rapporteur on the amendments to the proposal concerning measures to support the wine sector, told the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, on Monday 1 September, that the content of the amendments made her rather optimistic (see EUROPE 13695/8).
“I think we’ll be able to reach some compromises over the coming weeks. Today, we already have compromises on a third of the amendments”, she summarised. She said she hopes that the European Parliament will be able to adopt a position as quickly as possible so that legislative negotiations with the Council of the EU can be finalised before the end of the year. The aim is to have the new legislative framework ready for the next wine year, 2026/2027.
For Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), the fall in consumption is combined with the repercussions of trade disputes, “as we saw this summer, which primarily affect a sector as export-oriented as the wine and spirits industry”. He recommended strengthening the regulatory tools available to producers in order to rapidly rebalance the market, and reintegrating grubbing-up aid into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). He called for greater consistency: “We can’t have underproduction on the one hand and, on the other, force Member States to systematically increase their vineyards by 1% a year”.
Mr Sargiacomo also suggested that wine managers with a geographical indication be allowed to make price recommendations, not only on the price of grapes, but also on must and bulk wines. He also called for the legalisation of grape varieties derived from Vitis labrusca, which are still banned even though they present no proven risks to public health and have useful resistance genes for reducing the use of pesticides and adapting to climate change.
For his part, Gilles Pennelle (PfE, French) felt that grubbing-up was not the solution to the crisis. In his view, it would be better to put an end to intra-European competition, which is seriously undermining winegrowers, and to boost domestic wine consumption.
Benoît Cassart (Renew Europe, Belgian), for his part, called for solutions to be found for the labelling of non-alcoholic wine. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)