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Wine: The European Union caring for an industry in trouble

by AI | 28.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Brussels proposed on Friday a series of measures to support the wine sector facing declining alcohol consumption and climate change.

A man empties his bucket containing white grapes during the harvest of a vineyard in Patrimonio, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, on August 12, 2022. (Photo: PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP)

Brussels – The European Commission intends to respond to the difficulties of the wine sector with a “wine package,” whose measures will be submitted to the Member States and Parliament for implementation at the end of 2025 or early 2026.

With reduced demand, the sector is facing “a difficult, even very difficult situation, particularly for red wine in certain regions of Southern Europe,” noted a senior Commission official.

To combat overproduction, the Commission wants to offer more flexibility in uprooting and replanting operations.

Replanting authorizations will be, for example, extended from 3 to 8 years, to give winegrowers time to assess whether demand is indeed present. Member States will also be able to more easily finance targeted uprootings in denominations experiencing overproduction crises.

On the demand side, the EU wants to give more visibility to non-alcoholic wines and “light” wines, with low alcohol content, with harmonized definitions among the 27. (March 28, 2025)