Brussels, 21/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 20 December, the Agriculture Council adopted the decision on the conclusion of an agreement between the EU and the United States on the sales of wine (EUROPE 9020), by qualified majority. Germany, Portugal and Austria voted against, and Greece abstained. As well as the mutual and reciprocal recognition of all wine-making practices, this agreement will ensure the fluidity of trade. This is an important security, given the fact that the American market represents 40% of the Union's sales to third countries. The Achilles heel of this agreement resides mainly in the reluctance of the Americans to allow Europeans alone to use certain prestigious denominations such as Chablis, Champagne, Haut Sauternes and Porto. This sensitive dossier will be dealt with in a second phase of negotiations, which will start 90 days after the formal signature of the first agreement. This agreement is "a real success after 20 years of negotiations, because the United States are the largest market" for European producers, said Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fisher Boel, who hopes that in the next phase, the United States will agree to stop using European appellations completely. Its strategy consists mainly of bringing pressure to bear on Washington via the WTO. "I am satisfied that geographic indications will remain on the agenda of the WTO. I intend to step up discussions with the member countries of the WTO which are in favour of protection for geographical denominations. We are going to try to rally more countries to our cause. There is an enormous potential, not only for alcohols and wines, but also for all other agricultural products", she explained.
Under the terms of the agreement, the United States and the European Union explicitly recognise their respective wine denominations as "denominations of origin". The American government will therefore make a proposal to the Congress to limit the use of 17 European appellations in the United States. In this way, the appellation "California Champagne" will remain legal on the American market for a limited period of time, but cannot be used in any new areas of production. The agreement includes reciprocal concessions on certain American wine-making practices, or on labelling principles in force in Europe.