EUROPEAN UNION GIVES ITALY 101.6 MILLION EUROS FOR VINEYARD EXTIRPATION IN 2009/2010

Italy will receive 101.6 million euros from the European Union to compensate viticulturalists who grub up vineyards in 2009/2010 out of a total sum of 334 million that was set aside for all European countries. The measure was introduced by the Common Market Reform for wine in 2008, which, in order to reinforce the policy of quality for the sector, foresees the concession of incentives for the extirpation of grape vineyards for the next three agricultural seasons. Considering the mechanisms that were set by the reform, each member state introduced its requests for extirpation funds and with this Brussels decided how to divide the amount. The main beneficiaries were Italy, Spain (149.9 million euros), France (48.3 million), and Hungary (12.9 million).