Reform for French wine industry

As protests from wine growers in France continue, French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has promised a strategy to deal with what is being referred to as a “wine crisis”.

As protests from wine growers in France continue, French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has promised a strategy to deal with what is being referred to as a “wine crisis”.

The plan will be presented in two or three months’ time, Villepin told winemakers. The so-called crisis stems from decreasing exports and prices, as well as an oversupply of wine. At the end of last year Villepin suggested a plan to coordinate regional marketing by appointing officials that would report to the Agriculture Ministry.

The European Commission has suggested the need for “fundamental reform” in the wine sector. They have allocated about three quarters of their subsidy allocation to France, Italy and Spain.

French wine makers have also been provided with funding by the EC to distil surplus wine into industrial alcohol, but this is not enough to solve the oversupply issue. The EC’s proposals for reform will apparently be presented by the second half of this year.
Wine industry officials such as Denis Verdier, president of France’s wine cooperatives’ union, have accused the French government of blindly throwing money at the problem. This proposed government strategy will hopefully be more successful in addressing the wine crisis.

In the meantime, CRAV, the militant group of French winemakers, is apparently gaining support. CRAV claimed responsibility for a number of violent protests last year, including setting fire to a 28,000 litre Spanish wine tanker in the south of France, and then spilling its contents onto the road. The group is apparently planning attacks on several more targets in the next few months.