Brussels, 05/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to allocate EUR 443 million to the Member States for restructuring and conversion of vineyards for the 2003/2004 harvest year. It has also decided upon the final allocations for the previous period (2002/2003). This subsidy comes within the framework of reform of the wine growing market set out in a regulation dated 17 May 1999.
Spain (EUR 150.9 million for 20,940 hectares), Italy (EUR 120.1 million for 17,063 ha) and France (EUR 111.2 million for 12,745 ha) continue to be the largest beneficiaries of such aid. Then comes Portugal (nearly EUR 30 million for 3,174 ha), Germany (14 million for 2,116 ha), Austria (EUR 7.8 million for 1260 ha) and Luxembourg (EUR 86,842 for 11 ha). The breakdown of these subsidies between Member States, the Commission says, is made on the basis of objective criteria that take into account the specific situation and requirements of each as well as the percentage of vineyards existing in the country compared to the Community total.
The budget allocated this year is on the whole equal to that allocated for the period 2002/2003 (see EUROPE of 24 August 2002, p.6). But the breakdown is considerably different. Compared to the earlier campaign, France and Greece - and Portugal and Germany to a lesser extent - thus have substantial increases in their allocations, whereas those of Italy and Spain are reduced.