A number of MEPs from all sides of the political divide have called on the European Commission to act swiftly to avoid a gap in financial support for the European wine sector in 2028, at a time when the sector is already experiencing serious economic and structural difficulties.
In a letter sent to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, on Monday 20 April, the MEPs warn of a “regulator and financial gap” due to a misalignment in the timeline between the gradual entry into force of the recent legislative package on wine and the absence of agreement at this stage on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 (see EUROPE 13814/12).
The wine sector is facing a sustained fall in consumption, structural imbalances and increasing pressure from climate change, they point out, all of which were recognised during the recent reform of the EU’s wine market rules. Against this backdrop, the continuity of support is “essential” to help the sector adapt and maintain its resilience.
The signatories warn that the Member States must launch national calls for applications already in 2026 or, at the latest, early 2027. Without transitional arrangements, they will not be able to guarantee support in 2028, which would result in an interruption deemed “unacceptable”.
A break of this kind would undermine the very implementation of the ‘wine package’, the fruit of interinstitutional negotiations designed to respond to the crisis in the sector, and would leave operators “without the tools they need precisely when they need them most”, stress the MEPs.
The elected representatives therefore call on the Commission to rapidly propose transitional measures to extend the current framework of sectoral interventions provided for in Regulation 2021/2115, subject to the availability of appropriations in the future MFF. The aim is to provide legal certainty, facilitate national implementation and ensure a smooth transition between programming periods.
The letter is signed by Cristina Guarda (Greens/EFA, Italian), Esther Herranz-García (EPP, Spanish), Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italian), Charles Goerens (Renew Europe, Luxembourgish) and Arash Saeidi (The Left, French).
They are calling on the Commission to act “swiftly” to avoid an interruption that would be “impossible to justify” to producers and likely to damage the Union’s credibility.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/lm1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)