CMO WINE REFORM AND ITS NATIONAL SUPPORT PROJECT - MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ZAIA: “I AM SATISFIED”. 1.8 BILLION EUROS WILL GO TO THE WINE SECTOR FOR VINEYARDS, DISTILLATION, AND PROMOTION

“I am very satisfied with the activities undertaken by the administration and the recognition that their work has obtained in the European headquarters, which will mean more breathing room for planning the mid and long-term interventions for the wine sector”: this was response of Italy’s Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia, upon receiving the news that the five year plan for support for the CMO wine reform, planned to be carried out by European Community Regulation N. 479/08, 6 June 2008, and by the applicative regulation of the Commission N. 555/2008, did not receive any, from the European Commission, observations in detriment to its merit.
The plan, organized initially by the ATPO II Office and the competent director for the creation of EU and international policies, and the EU Commission correspondent, was consigned by the deadline of 30 June 2008 and is, therefore, considered operative.

Italy is one of the few big wine producing countries that presented the complete program within the terms that were required and that has not received observations within the three months reserved by the European Commission to formulate them. The plan foresees an allocation of 238,223,000 euros in 2009; for 2010 resources equivalent to 298,263,000 euros. 294,135,000 euros are, instead, the allocation for 2011; 341,174,000 for 2012; 336.736.000 euros for 2013 and 336,997,000 for 2014.

The resources are destined to finance the main measures within the program, which foresees:

a) within the first year of its application, having considered the tight timing and the limited financial endowment, privileges were given to measures already consolidated or, rather, easy to apply:

- restructuring and re-conversion of vineyards

- distillation of by-products

- aid for musts

- aid to producers for distillation;

b) for promotion, it has been anticipated that in the first year there will be a very limited endowment, equal to 7 million euros, of which 4.9 million will be given to the regions and the rest to a more central level of government.

Some measures included in the plan have already been adopted with Ministerial measures (restructuring and conversion of vineyards, enrichment);
While it the measure relative to the distillation of by-products from winemaking, which will undergo scrutiny by the State-Region Conference, is yet to be defined.

“Wine is one of our products of excellence” – noted Zaia – “which has brought our country and its regions to the rest of the world and which has made ‘Made in Italy’ synonymous with quality, tasty, and genuine products that have an inimitable history and tradition”.