Slovenia Has Two Objections about Wine Reform
Slovenia has entered key talks on the reform of the EU's wine sector with two objections: the labeling of added sugar and financial package, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said as EU ministers in charge of agriculture started negotiations on Monday.
Slovenia welcomes the compromise proposal that allows the adding of sugar to wine to increase alcohol content, a practice common in northern wine-making countries, but it has reservations about the special labeling.
If labeling was to be made transparent, everything should be listed, not only that sugar has been added to wine, according to Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Branka Tome.
The second sticking point for Slovenia is the financial package, as the period in which vineyards can be uprooted against compensation has been reduced from five to three years, which also means less money.
"The entire financial package is open for us," said Tome, who is accompanying Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc at the session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
Slovenia is only one of many countries that have reservations about the reform. This is why the Portuguese EU presidency today decided to start separate trilateral talks in order to try and hammer out a compromise.
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