450 new million euro in EU farm subsidies for the wine sector in 2006 and plans for “fundamental reforms”

The EU plans to allocate 450 million in wine farm subsidies, primarily to France, Italy, and Spain, in 2006 (approximately the same as in 2005). The main aim of the support is (in principle…) to help growers change over production to better grape varieties, better land etc. A spokesperson for the commission has said, though, that next year there will also be some “fundamental reforms” of the system, for example by no longer linking the subsidies to the production volume. All according to BeverageDaily.com