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Pierre Spahni Economic Research & Consultancy Services for Wine Tel +41 22 800 1607 Fax +41 22 800 1608 |
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ON GLOBAL TRENDS
A picture is worth a thousand words. Watch the noughties! Since they were last featured on this website, in 'Opening Up' (see below), consumption and production data for this century have undergone slight revisions, upward and downward respectively, totalling about 1% on average, reducing the gap between the two by some 250 million litres. As for the EU's Common Wine Policy (or 'Common Market Organisation for wine' as its officially known), the new legislation has now fully entered into force. The EU Commission's wine page (see 'Free resources') gives you all the thrilling details. Hereafter is the commentary I made in the wake of the political decision to adopt reform two years ago. 'Free rein' places this older note – and this page – in context. 10 December 2009 ******* ON THE EUROPEAN UNION'S WINE REFORM On 19 December 2007 the European Union finally agreed on its wine reform package, after a few heated exchanges at the EU Council of (Agricultural) Ministers and 18 months of laborious consultations over the radical plans devised by the EU Commission [1]. As ever, the Council of Ministers opted for a diluted version of the original proposals tabled by the Commission. These were deemed excessively liberal as well as too pessimistic on the future prospects for global wine consumption and the capability of European producers to successfully engage their competitors on the world stage. The Council of Ministers did agree to scrap distillation though. Its use as a market intervention tool will end in mid-2013, after 42 years of disservice (it was introduced as an exceptional measure when a common wine policy was laid down in 1970 and reinforced twice thereafter). Only distillation of the by-products of winemaking can remain, for environmental purposes. The EU is quite confident that 'the changes will bring balance to the wine market' [2]. Time will tell. 31 December 2007 [1] Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament -Towards a sustainable European wine sector. COM(2006) 319 final. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels 22 June 2006. [2] CAP reform: Wine reform will boost competitiveness of European wines. IP/07/1966. ******* The collection of essays featured previously on this website offers some background information on the EU's latest wine reform, international wine trade patterns and other global market trends. OPENING UP MARKETS AND MINDS (7 Sept 2007). OFF BALANCE (18 May 2006). O-N-E WORLD (10 June 2005). ******* |
