Brussels, 21/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Under the aegis of the European Commission, Hungary and Slovakia have recently reached a preliminary agreement on the Tokaj wine issue, which had divided these two new Member States for forty years. A definitive agreement can be signed this summer. All problems have not yet been resolved, as the Tokaj appellation is also used by four other Member States, Austria, France, Italy and Slovenia. Under Community legislation on denominations, this privilege will end in December 2007.
According to information from the Agency AFP, this agreement provides that Slovakia will be able to give over a total surface of 565.2 hectares to the Tokaj appellation, around one-tenth of the area of the famous Tokaj vineyard in Hungary. In exchange, Slovakia has agreed for the Hungarian authorities to organise quality controls to guarantee uniform standards for wines of the Tokaj region, which straddles the two countries. Community rules will apply in the same way on either side of the border as of the next harvest, particularly in terms of quality, the definition of wine-making practices and labelling rules. The most famous Tokaj wine is the dessert wine "Tokaj aszu", which the King of France Louis XIV called "the wine of Kings and the king of wines".