Faced with challenges including climate warming and changing consumer habits, the EU has put forward a number of measures to help the struggling European wine sector.
The proposals come at a time when wine growers risk being among the first victims of a fierce trade war between the EU and the US after President Donald Trump threatened 200% tariffs on European alcohol.
The sector faces “a very difficult situation, especially for red wine in some regions of southern Europe”, a senior EU official was quoted by AFP as saying.
The European Commission has published a series of measures including tackling overproduction, support to tackle the negative impact of global warming and a Europe-wide label for lower alcohol drinks to meet rising demand.
The proposals would empower member states to take steps such as grubbing up vineyards to prevent overproduction and extending replanting permits from three to eight years to give producers more time to assess demand.
The measures also include providing support to deal with drought, extreme weather conditions and plant diseases that damage production.
Brussels wants to allow the sector to access more EU funds for adapting vineyards to climate change by raising the public aid ceiling from 50 to 80 per cent.
The EU also wants to give greater visibility to alcohol-free and low-alcohol “light” wines by harmonising definitions across the 27 member states.
According to the Commission, drinks containing up to 0.5% alcohol can be labelled as “alcohol-free wine”.
"We can clearly see that wine consumption among young people is falling sharply and that there is a demand for alcohol-free or ‘light’ wines. We want to facilitate the development of this market," the senior EU official said.
Brussels' proposals for the “wine package” still need the approval of the European Parliament and EU member states and are expected to come into force in late 2025 or early 2026.
“I am convinced that our proposals will help stabilise the market and enable producers to seize new opportunities and respond to changing consumer expectations,” said EU agriculture chief Christoph Hansen. | BGNES
