Publication of the final text on the part of the European Commission is foreseen for upcoming July 4th

05.05.2007 | 

There is no doubt that in the next few months the European Viticulture sector will be putting its future on the line and that the agreements that are finally achieved will have a great influence on both the European domestic market and on all global markets. FENAVIN 2007, National Trade Fair on Wine, which will take place from May 7th to the 10th at the Ciudad Real Trade Fair Pavilion, will be hosting this extremely interesting round table at which the future of a sector as important as this one for Castilla-La Mancha will be analyzed.

To be found amongst the lecturers are Antonio Salinas, Socialist Group Parliament Member, Spokesman for the Regional Parliament's Agricultural Commission and Agricultural Engineer, Alipio Lara, Director of the Castilla-La Mancha Vine and Wine Institute (IVACAM); Manuel López Alexandre, Secretary General of the Conference of Viticulture Regulator Boards of Spain; Mariano López Benítez, Professor Emeritus of Administrative Law at the University of Cordova and José Vicente Cuillén, Director of the Valencia Institute of Food and Agriculture Quality.

In the opinion of Salinas, the new Common Wine Market Organization is simply vital. With the regulation currently in a discussion and negotiation stage, in just two months, on July 4th, the European Commission will be publishing the final text of the new regulation. The text will start to apply for the upcoming 2007-2008 wine campaign. The Castilian-Manchego Parliament Member underlines various aspects that the budding CMO must contemplate: "it must guarantee maintenance of the crops, and it must offer solutions to those areas in which there is no possibility whatsoever of establishing alternative crops, with elimination of vines being a voluntary decision in all cases. What all this really implies is that decent solutions must be found for those that wish to leave and for those that wish to stay and, of course, income must be guaranteed and improved if at all possible".

Salinas considers that right now favoring the greatest possible unification of criteria is fundamental so that Spanish wine can defend a unique and clear position in Brussels. What we are dealing with is the difficult plight of preserving each area or region's particularities, while in turn avoiding confrontation. This is certainly valid reasoning on a regional, national and communitarian scale.

Alipio Lara expresses himself in practically the same terms, although with slightly different nuances. He comments, "there are various fundamental points for the Castilla-La Mancha Council of Agriculture. The financial edge must be maintained and conservation or improvement of viticulture's profitability must be unflinchingly defended and promotion and commercialization must be decisively supported". Lara also underlines an aspect that does not always make the headlines: "we must remember that we are not only dealing with wine here. In the region there is also a very important production of musts and wine alcohols, which have their own market that goes beyond the elimination of surpluses. And this matter must also be defended in the new CMO".