Europe’s wine industry convenes in Italy as Brussels weighs farm policy changes

European wine producers and policymakers will gather in Taranto, in Italy’s Puglia region, on June 25 for a summit focused on the sector’s future as the European Union prepares changes to its Common Agricultural Policy.

The meeting, organized by the European Committee of Wine Companies, known as CEEV, comes at a difficult moment for the industry. According to the summit background note released by the organizers, the sector is facing climate change, falling wine consumption, shifting consumer habits, geopolitical and trade uncertainty, rising production costs and growing regulatory complexity.

Christophe Hansen, the European commissioner for agriculture and food, is scheduled to deliver closing remarks. Other participants include Damiano Li Vecchi, director general for international and European Union policies at Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture, and members of the European Parliament Dario Nardella and Michele Picaro.

CEEV said the event is intended to bring together businesses, academics and public officials to discuss policy responses that could support resilience, investment, competitiveness and long-term growth across the wine value chain. The organization is holding the summit with its Italian members Federvini and Unione Italiana Vini.

The program shows that one of the main discussions will center on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP, and whether existing European support tools for wine producers still fit current market conditions. That panel is expected to include Nardella; Luca Rigotti, president of the wine working party at Copa-Cogeca; Samuel Masse, president of CEVI, the European confederation of independent winegrowers; and Piero Mastroberardino, a CEEV board member.

A second panel will focus on wine and health policy, an issue that has become more sensitive in Europe as governments and health authorities debate alcohol labeling, public health messaging and consumption guidance. Scheduled speakers include Picaro; Attilio Giacosa, president of IRVAS, an Italian institute focused on research into wine, food and health; Sandro Sartor, president of Wine in Moderation; and Fabiola Sfodera of Sapienza University of Rome.

To frame the discussion, Tiziana Sarnari, a market analyst at ISMEA and a CEEV expert at the EU Wine Market Observatory, is due to present an overview of current wine market conditions.

The summit will run from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time at Relais Histó in Taranto. The working languages will be English and Italian. Registration was set to close on June 19, with participation free but subject to confirmation by organizers.

CEEV represents European Union wine and aromatized wine companies. The group says it brings together 25 national organizations from 13 EU member states as well as members in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, along with a consortium of four large European wine companies. According to CEEV, the companies it represents account for more than 90% of EU wine exports.

The choice of topics reflects broader pressure on Europe’s wine industry. Producers across several regions have been dealing with weaker domestic demand while also adapting to hotter growing seasons and more volatile weather. At the same time, Brussels is weighing how agricultural support should evolve in coming years, including whether traditional safety-net measures for sectors such as wine remain adequate.

By placing CAP reform and health policy at the center of the Taranto meeting, organizers are signaling where they believe some of the most urgent debates now lie: how to preserve economic support for producers while responding to changing consumption patterns and tighter scrutiny of alcohol in public policy.