Strasbourg, 27/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 September, the European Commission showed it was willing to make concessions on two particularly controversial points of the proposal for reform of the wine sector, namely liberalisation of vineyard planting rights and the ban on chaptalisation (addition of sugar).
The Agriculture Council debate confirmed there was strong resistance on the part of most producer countries to the project aimed at abolishing the plantation right regime as of 2014. According to France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, the liberalisation of plantation rights could throw the market off balance (relocation and over-production) and be in contradiction with the other measure recommended by the Commission - the grubbing-up scheme.
During a press conference, Ms Fischer Boel said that it would not be a “disaster” to put off the buffer date for “one or two years”. “I have shown proof of openness and I expect the states to do the same”, she added, acknowledging that her project did not have unanimity during the ministerial meeting and that there was “considerable criticism” of it.
Another bone of contention was the ban on chaptalisation (a northern European practice consisting of adding sugar to wine to increase the alcohol content). The Commission hopes to ban this practice to ensure there is an outlet for grape must (without EU subsidies being necessary). Thus, the addition of grape must would be the only way to enrich wine. The ban on chaptalisation is only supported by Spain, Italy and Malta. The other countries, with Germany and Austria in the lead, are calling for exemptions allowing “small vineyards” to use this traditional chaptalisation method
Ministers at the Agriculture Council have entrusted the Special Agriculture Committee (SAC) with a mandate to pursue work on reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for wine, with a view to a political agreement at the end of the Portuguese presidency, during the ministerial meeting scheduled for 18-20 December 2007. Furthermore, the European Parliament has promised to do its best to adopt its consultative opinion on the future of the wine sector during the plenary session in December - which would then allow European ministers to conclude the dossier. (lc)