Brussels, 31/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - The final phase of the reforms of the wine industry in the European Union decided upon by EU farm ministers in December 2007 comes into force on 1 August 2009. According to the Commission, this vast reform of the wine industry, the first stage of which started on 1 August 2008, should lead to a balanced wine market, remove market intervention measures and the costly wastage they give rise to, and use the budget instead for more positive, proactive measures to strengthen the competitiveness of wine from Europe. The reform will rapidly reconfigure the wine-making industry. A voluntary grubbing-up system will be set up for three years in order to help vineyard owners who are not strong enough to compete to move away from wine-making and in order to help remove excess production. The subsidies for emergency distillation of grapes into spirits will be phased out and the cash saved may be used nationally to help promote wine-drinking outside the EU, for restructuring and investment to update vineyards and cellars. The very restricting and binding system of planting rights will be abolished at EU level on 1 January 2016, but member states that so desire will be allowed to keep the system in their country until December 2018.
In a press release published on Friday 31 July 2009, EU Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel commented: “Member states and producers have a great opportunity to make the best use of the new wine regime to build on Europe's international reputation for excellence. I truly believe this marks a turning point in our wine sector's history. But I must urge member states to show urgency in using the new funds which are available. Money from the national envelopes must be used by 15 October, or else it will be lost.”
This second phase of the reform includes three sets of rules concerning protected designations of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indications (PGI), traditional terms, labelling and presentation of wine; wine-making practices; and the vineyard register, compulsory declarations and the gathering of information to monitor the wine market, the documents accompanying consignments of wine products and the wine sector registers to be kept.
The new labelling and presentation rules will improve communication with the consumer. On PDO/PGI and traditional terms, the regulation establishes the rules for their protection. It also includes the procedures for the examination of the applications for protection, for objections and their cancellation or modification. The legislation ensures that well-established national quality policies are safeguarded. Also, certain traditional terms and bottle shapes can continue to be protected. The indication of the vintage year and vine grape varieties will now be possible for wines without PDO/PGI.
The regulation adopted on wine-making practices ensures the best traditions of EU wine-making are preserved, while allowing innovation. The procedure for adopting new oenological practices and modifying existing techniques has been made more flexible. The Commission has now assumed responsibility from the Council for evaluating the list of oenological practices approved by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), except on enrichment and acidification, and it will add these practices to the list of EU approved techniques where necessary.
Funds foreseen in the national envelopes for 2009 and not paid out by 15 October will be lost. So far only 30% of the funds available for this year have been paid out. European funds are allocated to each EU producer country, to enable the financing of measures responding to local needs. Member states may chose from the following: single payment scheme (direct payments to producers), promotion on third-country markets, green harvesting, mutual funds, harvest insurance and investments; restructuring and conversion of vineyards, by-product distillation, potable alcohol distillation, crisis distillation and aid for the use of concentrated grape must. Support for potable alcohol distillation, crisis distillation and for the use of concentrated grape may be granted from the national envelopes until 31 July 2012 at the latest.
The budget available for the support measures will go up year by year, starting at €794 million in 2009 and rising to €1.23 billion in 2013.
A voluntary grubbing up scheme is planned over a three-year period and comprises an indicative total area of 175,000 hectares. The annual allocations for the grubbing-up measure for the period from 2009 to 2011 are €464 million, €334 million and €276 million respectively. Because of over-subscription, priority has been given this year to those producers who grub up their entire vineyards, followed by those aged over 55. (O.J./transl.rt)