Wine reform falters

Further rumblings from Brussels as EU agriculture ministers failed to reach a consensus regarding the proposal of controversial new measures to reform the EU wine industry and make it more competitive.

French minister for agriculture and fisheries, Michel Barnier, disagreed with the Commission’s proposal to put an end to crisis distillation, which costs the EU approximately €500,000,000 a year, as he said French winemakers would be too badly hit. Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, also faces opposition from Germany, France and Austria over proposals to end chaptalisation.  The Commission has attempted to compromise with dissident member states by allowing some sugar addition but the offer was rejected.