Recital (4)

In the wine sector, the relationship between production supply, consumer demand and exports on the world market is currently unstable, resulting in serious market disturbances. In addition, there is a trend towards a continued decrease in wine consumption in the Union due to changes in consumer habits and lifestyle. The existing scheme of authorisations for vine plantings is considered essential to maintain the balance between the supply capacity of the sector, a fair standard of living for producers and reasonable prices for consumers, whilst ensuring diversity of wines and responding to the specificities of the Union wine sector. The Union wine sector has specific characteristics, including the long lifecycle of its vineyards, resulting from the fact that production is only possible several years after planting but then continues for several decades and that it has the potential for considerable fluctuations from one harvest to the next. The Union wine sector is also characterised by a very high percentage of small, family-run farms, which results in a diverse range of wines. Such producers need long-term predictability to justify the significant investment required to plant a vineyard and to guarantee the economic viability of their projects over time, in the process improving the competitiveness of the Union wine sector on the global market. In order to consolidate the Union wine sector’s achievements to date and to achieve sustainable balance between quantity and quality in the sector, through the continued orderly growth of vine planting, the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings should be extended, subject to reviews every 10 years to evaluate the scheme. If appropriate, proposals should be presented on the basis of the results of those reviews with a view to improving the competitiveness of the wine sector.