(29/09/05) Champagne uit de VS?? - Europese Groenen hekelen Europees wijnakkoord

• 2005-09-29

Quality, jobs and tradition at risk

European wine threatened by trade deal with US

The Greens/EFA group have sharply criticised the European Commission for compromising the quality of European wine and sacrificing viticultural heritage. The Commission signed a bilateral deal with US in September which undermines the principles of EU legislation on wine quality and geographical indications, according to Spanish Green MEP David Hammerstein , a member of the Parliament's agriculture committee. MEPs criticised the deal in a common resolution that was overwhelmingly approved today in Strasbourg by all of the political groups. The resolution states that the deal allows other countries to use specific geographical indications such as Champagne and Jerez to market their wine – potentially sacrificing wine quality and threatening the social and economical contributions that wine producers make in many regions of Europe.

Speaking after MEPs voted on the resolution, Hammerstein said:

"The US wants to replace the territorial and quality approach – which is contained in geographical indications and includes detailed obligations on production, labelling and quantities – with commercial trade marks. Trademarks for wine would, for example, allow Coca Cola to buy a trademark for Champagne or Rioja and produce a substance – wherever it wanted and by whatever means it wanted – just so long as the final product looked and smelled like one of these traditional wines. This is a very worrying scenario."

"The Commission has jeopardised the future of the European wine industry and signed a deal without properly asking the Parliament for its views, which is required by the inter-institutional framework agreement. It has also failed to get the US to agree to a firm deadline by which time it must phase out the illegal practise of using traditional European names like Champagne or Jerez, for American wines. Parliament has also called on the Commission to prevent the importation of wines that have been produced using unacceptable practices such as adding water, wood or decomposing chemical ingredients in order to industrially recompose wines. We expect the Commission to do better."

"If we allow large-scale US producers to sell their industrial wines in Europe and undermine our system of geographical indications, our farmers and consumers will lose a rich diversity of varieties of grapes and wines. Spanish and European wine production is mainly small scale and often based in disadvantaged mountainous areas. It thus provides a valuable source of employment and contributes to the conservation of very diverse ecosystems. The EU should implement a qualified market access system of standards and levies which would avoid social and environmental 'dumping' in the food sector."

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