European winemakers press Brussels and governments for crisis support
Wine-industry bodies from Spain, France and Italy issued a joint appeal to the European Commission and their governments to keep wine a budget priority. They reject any CAP cut and oppose shifting wine aid to national co-financing, warning it would fragment the single market as the sector faces a sales and price crisis.
Wine sectors of three countries make a joint appeal
The main wine-industry organizations of Spain, France and Italy have issued a joint message to their national governments and the European Commission, demanding that support for wine remain a political and economic priority in the European Union's next financial framework. Meeting on 30 June and 1 July in the French town of Irouléguy under the traditional Wine Contact Group, the associations agreed that the sector is facing one of its most difficult periods in decades, according to agronewscastillayleon.com.
The bodies warned that cutting European support would endanger not only the competitiveness of companies but also the economic, social and environmental sustainability of large rural areas across the continent. Spain, France and Italy are the EU's three largest wine-producing countries.
A shared diagnosis of the crisis
The organizations set out a common list of threats to European viticulture: the growing impact of climate change on harvests, a slowdown in global wine consumption, uncertainty from the international geopolitical situation, instability in export markets, continuously rising production costs, and administrative burdens that still weigh on producers and wineries.
They called for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to remain a central tool, arguing that wine needs specific and sufficient resources to adapt, along with regulatory and financial stability to avoid losing competitiveness against other international markets.
Opposition to national co-financing
One of the document's firmest points concerns the future EU budget. The sector expressly rejects any reduction in CAP funds and, in particular, opposes wine-specific aid becoming partially co-financed by member states. The organizations warned that such a change would break the current model of fully European financing and could create significant inequalities between countries. If each state had to contribute part of the public funding, national budget differences could lead to unequal treatment of producers, fragment the single market and weaken the sector's competitive position.
The associations recalled that the EU has already adapted wine policy through the so-called wine package and said existing measures should be guaranteed before new mechanisms are designed. They asked the EU to establish a transitional period to maintain sectoral wine intervention until the next multiannual financial framework covering 2028-2034 enters into force.
Regulation, health and the rural role
The sector acknowledged the work of European Commissioner Christophe Hansen on the wine package, highlighting progress on wine dealcoholization and the introduction of digital labelling as strategic responses to new market trends. It insisted these measures should be applied as soon as possible and kept pressing for administrative simplification, describing bureaucracy as one of the main obstacles for growers, cooperatives and wineries.
The joint document also stressed wine's cultural and social role. Against a backdrop of stronger public-health policies, the organizations said responsible wine consumption is compatible with a healthy lifestyle and asked that campaigns distinguish clearly between abuse and moderate consumption. They noted that viticulture helps keep people in rural areas, generates employment, preserves the landscape and protects the environment.
