E.U. Governments Near Partial Farm Deal With Wine Rules Still Unsettled

European Union governments moved closer this week to a partial political deal on changes to the bloc’s farm policy and market rules, but support for the wine sector remains one of the main issues still under negotiation before an end-of-October deadline.

Agriculture experts from the 27 member states met on October 5 in the EU’s Special Committee on Agriculture and made progress toward an agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP, and on the regulation that governs the common market organization for farm products. The aim is to settle the main political lines by the end of the month, before agriculture ministers meet in Luxembourg on October 26 and 27.

On the CAP itself, several points are still open. The talks are still focused on how much flexibility member states should have in applying the rules while keeping a common EU framework. Delegations are also still discussing the share of coupled income support, control rates and the new conditions attached to farm aid.

On the market regulation side, the latest compromise drafted by the Irish presidency received broad backing from member states, but officials are still working through a number of technical and political details. Several national delegations are asking for more changes to the provisions covering sectoral interventions in wine, the financing of sectoral measures carried out through operational programs run by producer organizations, and the rules on hemp, especially where they overlap with national laws and policies.

The two draft texts are due to return to the Special Committee on Agriculture at its next meetings on October 12 and October 19. After that, ministers are expected to finalize what Brussels calls a partial general approach, meaning a broad political agreement on the non-financial parts of the package.

The remaining arguments over wine matter well beyond a narrow farm policy debate. The rules being negotiated could shape how wine producers and grower groups across the EU access support, finance market measures and organize collective programs. That could, in turn, affect investment decisions and business planning across the beverage sector, especially for wineries and producer groups that rely on EU-backed intervention tools.

The discussion comes at a time when Brussels is also weighing how directly it should continue to support wine through other policy channels. On the same day as the farm policy talks, the European Parliament’s agriculture committee adopted an own-initiative report on the EU’s agri-food promotion policy by 37 votes to 7, with one abstention. Lawmakers said wine and meat should remain among the sectors eligible for EU promotion funding.

Members of the Parliament committee also called for simpler access to funding and lighter administrative procedures. They said approved campaigns should be easier to adjust after the fact when market conditions change or geopolitical events disrupt trade. They also backed more flexibility to redirect campaigns, products, budgets or target markets once a program has already been approved.

For wine producers, that separate debate is relevant because it points to a broader political struggle inside the EU over whether wine should continue to be treated like other farm sectors in budget and market policy. Supporters of keeping wine eligible argue that the principle of equal treatment should apply across agricultural sectors. The report from the Parliament committee still needs approval in plenary.

The end-of-October target leaves EU officials with limited time to narrow differences. While there appears to be broad support for moving the package forward, the unresolved questions show that member states still differ on how far common EU rules should go and how much room national governments should have to tailor the system. In the wine chapter, that balance is proving especially sensitive because the sector combines agricultural support, market management and producer organization financing in one of the bloc’s most politically visible farm industries.

If ministers can close the remaining gaps later this month, the result would set the negotiating line for the Council on a reform package that will influence how agricultural support is delivered across the EU. For the wine industry, the final wording on sectoral interventions and producer program financing is likely to be watched closely by growers, cooperatives and drinks companies as they assess how future EU aid rules may affect the European market.