Facing challenges including climate warming and changing consumer habits, the EU on Friday unveiled a raft of measures to support Europe’s troubled wine sector.
The proposals come as winegrowers risk being among the early victims of a bitter trade war between the EU and the United States, after President Donald Trump threatened 200 percent tariffs on European alcohol.
The sector is facing “a very difficult situation, particularly for red wine in certain regions of southern Europe”, a senior EU official said.
The European Commission published a series of measures including addressing overproduction, support to tackle the negative impact of global warming and an EU-wide label for drinks with lower alcohol levels to meet growing demand.
The proposals would empower member states to take steps such as uprooting vines to prevent surplus production and extending permits for replanting from three to eight years to give producers more time to evaluate demand.
The measures also include providing support to tackle drought, extreme weather conditions and plant diseases hurting production.
Brussels wants to let the sector access more EU money to adapt vineyards to climate change, raising the ceiling on public assistance from 50 to 80 percent.
The EU also wants to give greater visibility to alcohol-free wines and “light” wines, with low alcohol content, with harmonised definitions across the 27 member states.
The commission says drinks containing up to 0.5 percent of alcohol can be labelled “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’ “wine package” proposals still need approval from the European Parliament and EU member states and are set to come into force in late 2025 or early 2026.
“I am confident that our proposals will help stabilise the market and will enable the producers to seize new opportunities and respond to evolving consumer expectations,” the EU’s agriculture chief Christophe Hansen said in a statement.
