EU wine reform: as good as it gets

The EU wine reform, officially summarised here, was, inevitably, a compromise. The original proposals (downloadable here) put forward by EU Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel were intended to put an end to ‘the almost systematic recourse to crisis distillation, an overly cautious grubbing-up policy, exaggerated use of enrichment practices, confusing labeling rules or somewhat rigid oenological practices … Not to mention a budget that, rather than being used as a lever for an effective restructuring of the sector, favours measures that have a limited and short term impact’.

The document with the full details of Wednesday’s agreement (including the...