Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-13-Speech-2-245"
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"en.20070213.19.2-245"2
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".
Madam President, Mrs Fischer Boel, ladies and gentlemen, above and beyond its role as an agricultural and economic product, wine represents our history, culture and traditions. Thus, we cannot accept a reform primarily aimed at resizing a sector that currently uses only 3% of budget funds, as compared with added-value production of 7%.
The Commission is proposing to reduce production and to grub up approximately 400 000 hectares of vines over five years, on the grounds of the need to reduce management costs on production surpluses and to improve European competitiveness through the principle that ‘only the strongest will remain on the market’. It is strange to observe that, while Europe favours a policy of grubbing up vines, other countries, such as those in South America and southern Africa, support planting them.
In view of the fact that worldwide demand is not falling but increasing, it seems that the Commission intends to restore a balance in the European Union’s internal market without taking into consideration worldwide demand and the balance of the world market, and without considering that in the hasty reduction of European wine production there is a risk of eliminating some vines which, while not producing products that are extremely strong on the market, are regional holdings of quality, with strongly-rooted historical traditions that still today act as the social fabric for entire regional areas.
The truth is that the new world wines are gaining market share thanks to a growing improvement in product quality, together with the competitiveness of their prices. The new intervention methods ought to make it possible for the whole sector to meet the new challenges imposed by an increasingly globalised market. The winning formula is still to invest in the quality and individual characteristics of European wines, in cost reduction, in the promotion of wine in order to enlarge its market, and we fear that the spread of new oenological practices may lead to a deterioration in the image of wine and therefore compromise the relationship of trust between the consumer and the product, with very serious consequences for consumption.
Mrs Fischer Boel, the wine sector needs a reform that promotes greater competitiveness in European wine, by continuing with the restructuring of vines to make them more competitive and by promoting the maintenance of viticulture to act as protection for the land and the environment. Geographical labels and designations of origin should be understood to be vital tools in guaranteeing and protecting European producers.
To conclude, Mrs Fischer Boel, what we ask of a new EU wine policy is the recovery and development of the sector on the world market."@en1
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