WASHINGTON - EU ACCORD: MORE SPACE FOR EUROPEAN EXPORTS, INCLUDING WINE, TO THE UNITED STATES. IMPORTANT RESULT AFTER 20 YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS

The European Union and the United States recently signed a bilateral agreement on wine that will offer great benefits for European producers. This was made public by the EU Commission, which noted that the agreement represents “the culmination of 20 years of negotiations, and will allow EU wine producers to consolidate their already strong presence in the US market, by far the most important export market for the EU”.

The annual export of EU wines to the United States represents a sum of over 2 billion euros, that is, 40% of the entire export earnings for the EU. Brussels emphasized that the agreement “clearly demonstrates that the US and EU are capable of resolving their complex and important problems in the context of bilateral negotiations”.

”Within the next 90 days the US and EU will begin a second phase of negotiations to reach a second and more ambitious agreement”, specified the announcement.

The commissioner of agriculture and rural development, Mariano Fischer Boel, was “satisfied”, and emphasized that the agreement “will facilitate the access of European wines to the remunerative US market, where consumers greatly appreciate the quality of our wines and the long tradition of our wine production”.

”The EU attaches enormous importance to the protection of its geographic denominations abroad”, added the commissioner.