“We champion small- and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives” Spanish GUE/NGL MEP Willy Meyer said in today's European Parliament debate on the future of the wine sector.

“We see more and more is being put into the hands of large producers such as Garcia Carrion, which is number 4 in the world and imports 17 million litres of wine from Chile –  jeopardising small production in Europe. Such high concentration of production takes a lot of CAP money – we need to be aware of this in this house” he said, concluding with an expression of solidarity with the general strike that is occurring in Spain to defend public education.

Portuguese MEP Inês Zuber said: “We have always argued that liberalization of plantations entails immense dangers – it undermines the economic balance of farms and agricultural regions and threatens ecological equilibrium.”

“We want to see the maintenance of vine planting rights and the establishment of special schemes for regions where viticulture is the dominant activity. What is now on the table is a policy that will create even more uncontrolled production via full liberalization of the wine sector. The objective of creating new segmentations that promote mixing wines from different countries will bring enormous problems for the production of wines with Geographical Indicators. We are totally against deregulation of the sector, it is fundamental to maintain rights to planting vines, ensuring the continuity of wines with Geographical Indicators.”

“The question that arises is not whether there should be a reform of the wine sector but if the content of this reform will protect the sector and in particular the small producers” she concluded.

GUE/NGL Press:
David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08