The European Union is the world-leading producer of wine. Between 2014 and 2018, the average annual production was 167 million hectolitres. It accounts for 45% of world wine-growing areas, 65% of production, 60% of global consumption and 70% of exports.

Since the first Common Market Organisation (CMO) in 1962, the wine market has developed considerably. The latest wine reform adopted in 2008, revised and included in the 2013 single CMO envisaged the following three goals:

• making EU wine producers even more competitive – enhancing the reputation of European wines and regaining market share both in the EU and outside;
• making the market-management rules simpler, clearer and more effective – to achieve a better balance between supply and demand;
• preserving the best traditions of European wine growing and boosting its social and environmental role in rural areas.

In addition to its general goals to harmonise, streamline and simplify the legislation, EU regulation replaced the planting rights regime in 2015 by a scheme of authorisations for vine planting during the period between 2016 and 2030, enabling competitive producers to increase production within certain limits.

EU WINE MARKET REFORMS

The EU wine market organisation started out very open, with no curbs on plantings and very few market regulation instruments, the aim being to confront the annual variations in production. It later restrained freedom on plantings, coupling it with the virtually guaranteed sales, thus generating serious structural surplus.

WINE SUPPORT PROGRAMMES

The wine support programmes introduced under the 2008 wine CMO reform included initially 13 measures. The 2013 CMO reform put an end to support for potable alcohol distillation, crisis distillation and enrichment by use of concentrated must.

In compensation, it introduced as a new measure innovation in the wine sector aiming at the development of new products, processes and technologies concerning the wine products. Furthermore, it expands promotion measures in EU countries, with a view to informing consumers about the responsible consumption of wine and about the EU systems covering designations of origin and geographical indications.

It also extended the restructuring and conversion of vineyards to replanting of vineyards where it is necessary following mandatory grubbing up for health or phytosanitary reasons.

Wine-producing EU countries may currently offer support for the following measures:

• promotion in non-EU countries,
• informing consumers about the responsible consumption and EU quality schemes,
• restructuring and conversion of vineyards including replanting for health or phytosanitary reasons,
• green harvesting,
• funds (European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and European Regional Development Fund among others),
• harvest insurance,
• investments in enterprises,
• innovation aiming at the development of new products, processes and technologies,
• by-product distillation.

The yearly allocations from the EU budget are fixed by EU country, taking into account the transfer for some EU countries to the single payment scheme.

For information on how B2EU Consulting could support your organisation in developing a funding strategy and in unlocking different financing tools for your operation in the wine sector, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: info@b2eu-consulting.com.