The European Union will unveil a package of support measures “very soon” for Europe’s struggling wine sector as it faces several challenges, the bloc’s agriculture chief said Monday.
The industry’s problems include sharp falls in consumption, climate change and the threat of US tariffs after Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said the European Commission “is very keen to propose a package of specific measures for the wine sector that will provide some immediate response for the sector”.
“I am confident that we can put forward a proposal very soon and possibly already in March,” Hansen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.
An experts’ report in December last year issued a set of recommendations including targeted actions and adapting to trends that would offer new market opportunities.
The report also said there had to be a more effective fight against unfair trading practices, and greater flexibility in the use of funds from the bloc’s common agricultural policy (CAP) to react more quickly to extreme climate events.