Krems, 30/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is anticipating "extremely tough" negotiations on the reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for wine, according to Mariann Fischer Boel, the Commissioner in charge of Agriculture, speaking at a press conference on 28 May on the sidelines of the informal meeting of European Agriculture Ministers, held in Krems, Austria. On 22 June, the Commission is to present its communication on options for the reform of the wine-making sector, but certain Member States, such as Spain, Portugal and Germany, have already criticised the measures which may be recommended (see EUROPE 9195 for the draft communication on the reform).
Ms Fischer Boel clarified the negotiation timetable for this dossier, which, she explained, will leave enough time to consult all interested parties, the Member States and the European Parliament. On 22 June, the Commission is to adopt a communication presenting several reform options, to be discussed up until the month of November under the Finnish Presidency (which is due to start on 1 January and end on 31 December). Then, in December 2006 or January 2007, the Commission will adopt legislative proposals. The ministers will examine these proposals in the first half of 2007, with a view to a political agreement "before summer 2007", according to the Commissioner. The new provisions for the reform of the wine sector will enter into force in July 2008.
The Agriculture Commissioner declined to outline the options which will feature in the communication of 22 June, stating that the documentation was under the inter-services consultation procedure within the Commission and advising the media that the draft in circulation may be changed considerably. The Commissioner simply defended the need for an ambitious reform in order to bring back the competitiveness of the European sector, which has been destabilised due partly to mass imports, in recent years, of products from the "New World" countries (Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Australia). She also stated that the labelling of Community wines needs to be simplified, taking inspiration from the producers of these same "New World" wines. Ms Fischer Boel went on to stress the urgent need to bring back a certain amount of coherency in the Community aid regime, which earmarks 500 million EUR for distillation and only 1.4 million EUR for the promotion of wines. "I want to make a bold reform", she said, because minor changes will not resolve the problems and will oblige us to make further changes in two years' time. "The number of applications for crisis distillation measures, including for quality wine, showed that the regime is no longer tenable", she insisted.
The president-in exercise of the Agriculture Council, Austrian Minister Josef Pröll, said that "we wish to create a future-proof market". He noted that distillation is a "highly expensive" market management tool. He did not take position in favour of the removal of distillation measures, but recommended that other mechanisms should be set in place.
On the sidelines of their informal meeting in Krems, the Member States did not wait for the communication to be published to react, quite vigorously in some cases, against the Commission's intentions. Dominique Bussereau, the French minister, preferred to keep a low profile, stating that there were some "interesting ideas" in the Commission's draft on the reform of the sector. He is still waiting for the Commission's response to the French request to open a distillation crisis for four million hectolitres of wine. He declined to go further than to stress that the reform of this sector was of "fundamental" importance, given the tens of thousands of jobs dependent on wine production.
Jaime Silva, the Portuguese Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, spoke out against the Commission's plans to increase measures to clear the land of vines. He stressed that in order to make Porto, Portugal needed the existing measures for the processing of wines into alcohol ("potable alcohol" distillation). Portugal is in favour of increasing the current regime of restructuring and re-converting wineries for seven years in order to continue to improve the quality of wine-making and its adaptation to market demand, Mr Silva added.
Josep Puxeu Rocamora, Secretary General within the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, criticised the various options outlined by the Commission. Like his Portuguese counterpart, he took position against the proposed vine clearance policy, stating that this kind of measure must be reduced to a minimum and more tools allowing professional structures to adopt rules for the operators be created (maximum yield, destruction of products, limitations on sales, etc). On the national envelopes to be granted to the Member States, Mr Puxeu stated the view that a maximum and minimum for aid should be set in order to avoid competition distortions between the Member States.
The distribution of the national envelopes should not be to the detriment of those countries which have already restructured the sector, said Fernand Boden, the Luxembourg Agriculture Minister. "The countries which have distilled the most should not be favoured and the countries which do not overproduce should not be penalised". The money "wasted" on crisis distillation measures "should be spent in a more intelligent way, by developing promotion campaigns" to help win over new outlets, the Luxembourg minister added. On wine-making practices, he said that the must used to enrich the wine should come only from the region of production.
"We must improve the quality of European wines", said the Dutch Agriculture Minister, Cees Verman, who spoke out against the large sums of money spent on wine distillation, when it would be better to spend it on developing wine promotion.
Keeping his cards close to his chest, the Italian minister, Paolo de Castro, said that before taking position on the future of the regime, he was waiting for the opinion of the Commission, of the countries of the EU and third countries, at the meeting of the International Vine and Wine Office, to be held in June.
The draft reform planned by the Commission "is not good", said German Minister Horst Seehofer, who said that the problems with the overproduction of wine in Europe will only be resolved by improving their quality. "No wood and no sugar" in the maturing of wines, he said.
All we need to do is to simplify the regulations within the sector, said the Finnish Minister Juha Korkeaoja, whose country is to take up the next six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Finnish programme includes the examination of the Commission's communication on the options for the reform of the wine sector. He pointed out that Finland produces no wine and that its role in the discussions will be as a "mediator". However, he acknowledged the importance of this dossier for the producing countries, including Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Hungary.