|
|
The association for the protection of French family businesses is calling for a government-set minimum price for wine. In a statement, the Mouvement de Défense des Exploitants Familiaux (MODEF) calls on the government to guarantee "100 euros per hectolitre for table wines, 160 euros/hl for IGP wines, 200 euros/hl for AOP wines and 260 euros/hl for organic wines". The association further proposes the introduction of a 15 percent deposit for each contract signed, a solidarity fund of one billion euros for winegrowers, the assumption of social contributions by the social security system, the end of new planting permits and the reintroduction of planting rights. In addition, organic winegrowers should receive state support per hectare and wages and pensions should be increased.
In the statement, the MODEF does not address the events of 19 October, when some 500 vintners blocked a motorway toll station on the border with Spain in protest against cheap imports and emptied several thousand litres of wine from trucks coming from Spain onto the road. But the state had to realise that the winegrowers were in dire need. "MODEF fears a social catastrophe in viticulture! Today, winegrowers cannot survive with such low prices. The economic situation of the farms is difficult." The association cites as reasons "The decline of the harvest in the South, significantly lower prices for producers, costs increased by 40 per cent, a breathtaking increase in the price of dry materials, the decline in the consumption of red wine, inflation, which limits the purchasing power of consumers and inhibits the purchase of wine."
(al / source: vitisphere)