Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-15-Speech-4-183"

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lpv:translated text	"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your contributions to the discussion. I will be informing my fellow Commissioner Marian Fischer Böl of the interest that you have displayed. As I already mentioned in my introductory statement, the use of oak shavings in wine production was already approved at a political level by the Council last year. Within the framework of the Wine Management Committee, there has been an exchange of views on the technical rules applying to the use of wood shavings, and the Commission’s proposal has won the support of most Member States. I consider the debate under way here today to be Parliament’s contribution to the discussion. The discussion is important because it forms part of the wider problem of how to improve the competitiveness of the European wine sector. There is a clear need for action. The Commission has just begun another crisis distillation of 5.6 million hectolitres of wine, which will cost the EU budget EUR 131 million in total. Expenditure on distillation regularly amounts to more than EUR 500 million per year. This is of course not sustainable in the long term. The Commission will soon be adopting a communication on ways to reform the wine regime, which will undoubtedly form the subject of complex analysis and debate in Parliament. My fellow Commissioner Mrs Fisher Böl has remarked several times with regard to the future of the wine sector that the sector must increase the competitiveness of EU wine producers, improve the reputation for quality enjoyed by EU wine as the best wine in the world, win back old markets and also win new markets in the EU and throughout the world. We must create a wine regime that operates on the basis of clear, simple and effective rules, such as balancing supply and demand. We must create a wine regime which will retain the best traditions of wine-making in the EU, strengthen the social structure of many rural areas and ensure that all production will be environment-friendly. The measures we are discussing today are fully in accordance with the above-stated goals. The future of the wine sector depends, among other things, on having a symbiotic link between the best traditions of the sector and practical modern developments. Allow me to respond briefly to some of the points that have been raised. The first question was on why the Commission was not making it obligatory to identify wine that has been produced with the help of wood shavings. The Council Regulation sets out a specific number of mandatory details for wine labels, and only the Council can make it obligatory for labels to mention the wood shavings process. It is not possible to make this a mandatory requirement under a Commission Regulation, as stated in the proposal which the Wine Management Committee is assessing. The Commission in any case feels that the existing system of wine labelling is too complicated and too rigid, and that it would consequently be appropriate to simplify existing procedures and make them more flexible. The use of oak shavings and pieces of oak in contact with wine as it matures has been permitted for 10 years now in most wine producing countries outside Europe, and wine produced in this way satisfies the wishes of consumers. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, which is the international reference body in this sector, approved this process in 2001 and considers it to be a good wine-making process. There is therefore no reason for banning the process, or for banning wine produced in this way from being imported into the EU. Ladies and gentlemen, the issue of wine processing is an issue of exceptional importance because wine is a traditional part of European agriculture. As I mentioned earlier, the Commission is drawing up the appropriate documents, and these will be debated in Parliament. On the issue of wine and the powers of the Commission in relation to labelling wine that has been produced through or with the aid of wood shavings, I feel that my communication included sufficient information on the procedural powers of the Commission."@en1
dcterms:Language	"cs"^^xsd:language2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Use of wood shavings to age wine artificially – Use of wood shavings as an oenological practice for European wines (debate)2
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20060615.27.4-183"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2006-06-15-Speech-4-1842
lpv:speaker	lp:Vladimír Špidla2
dcterms:Date	"2006-06-15"^^xsd:date2

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