A growing chorus of discontent is echoing across Europe's wine heartlands—especially from France, the world leader in wine by value—after the European Union announced a 15 million euro aid package to support South Africa’s wine industry.
While the funding aims to foster development in a key trade partner, it has sparked a wave of protest from struggling European winegrowers, particularly small and independent producers in France who say their crisis is being ignored.
“A Real Provocation for European Winemaking”
The backlash was swift and vocal. Jérôme Despey, president of the FranceAgriMer wine board and a prominent winemaker, described the EU’s decision as “unacceptable” and “a real provocation.” Speaking to Vitisphere, Despey stressed that European winemakers are grappling with a deep structural crisis marked by overproduction, collapsing prices, and dwindling consumption.
“At a time when we are calling for crisis reserve credits to support winemakers,” Despey said, “this decision sends the wrong message.” He called on Brussels to instead prioritize domestic support, such as funding for emergency distillation, stock reduction, and vineyard grubbing up—tools designed to rebalance the market and preserve local production capacity.
A Crisis Felt Nationwide
The outrage is not isolated. Jean-Marie Fabre, president of the Independent Winemakers of France, said he hadn’t seen such a strong and unified reaction in years. “There is not a single wine-growing region in France that isn’t protesting this subsidy,” he declared, calling the decision a diplomatic and economic misstep.
The crux of the protest lies in geographic priorities: why allocate EU funds to a non-EU country that is also a direct competitor in global markets, while European producers face declining demand, rising costs, and market uncertainty post-pandemic and post-Brexit?
United Appeal from Europe’s Wine Giants
The alarm bells have rung beyond France. At a recent meeting of the “Contact Group” held in Montepulciano, Italy—home to Vino Nobile and a symbol of European wine heritage—representatives from Italy, France, and Spain, the world’s top three wine-producing nations, delivered a joint appeal to the European Commission.
The coalition included all major national wine associations, such as Italy’s Assoenologi, Unione Italiana Vini, France’s Vignerons Indépendants and Les Vins IGP de France, and Spain’s Federación Española del Vino. Their message was clear:
“Now more than ever, EU support for the sector must not be questioned.”
The group emphasized that the upcoming Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget must maintain robust funding for national wine programs. The Wine Package, a central pillar of EU wine legislation, must remain a key mechanism for supporting producers through structural crises, helping address falling consumption, increasing trade barriers, and growing environmental challenges.
A Fragile Future Without Firm Support
The current situation lays bare a troubling contradiction: while European wine remains a cultural and economic pillar, celebrated globally for its quality and tradition, its grassroots producers are increasingly vulnerable. Without adequate and timely EU support, many fear a wave of closures, loss of biodiversity, and the erosion of local wine cultures that have defined European rural life for centuries.
As the 2025 CAP discussions continue, the protests from France and its European partners send a decisive political signal: EU wine policy cannot afford to overlook its own producers, especially when they are facing an existential crisis.
Source: WineNews