FRENCH STATE PLEDGES € M 140 SUPPORTING WINE SECTOR OVER COVID-19 OUTBREAK

USPA NEWS - To respond to the serious crisis in the French wine sector, the Ministers of Agriculture, the Economy and the Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Accounts, announced on May 11, a first aid stream to support our businesses and operations.
 he State has announced the principle of crisis distillation on the basis of an envelope of 140 million euros, including 80 million euros from the annual national aid plan of the Common Market Organization (CMO ) wine. The wine sector regrets that the State draws from the CMO budget, which will impact the recovery capacity of the sector.
 

 The French Ministers of Agriculture, the Economy and the Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Accounts, announced on May 11, a first aid stream to support our businesses and operations, to respond to the serious crisis in the French wine sector,   The State has announced the principle of crisis distillation on the basis of an envelope of 140 million euros, including 80 million euros from the annual national aid plan of the Common Market Organization (CMO ) wine. The wine sector regrets that the State draws from the CMO budget, which will impact the recovery capacity of the sector. In addition, the ministers announced an exemption from social charges of up to 100% for the companies most affected and for an envelope of 100 million euros. Although positive, this first step remains well below the observation made by the European Commission itself. This is why this prologue must continue quickly with an ambitious recovery plan which must focus on the following points: - Market stimulus measures, which involve easing the rules relating to national investment aid programs and promotion to third countries; - Availability management measures, in particular a volume of crisis distillation scaled up to meet needs (3 million hectoliters / 260 million euros), production control and private storage aid; - Carrying over of the amounts not used up to October 15, 2020 on the national aid programs, on the national envelopes for the years 2020-21 to 2022-23; - For a sector which is a collateral victim of the closure of the CHR, the exemptions from charges must be simple and accessible to all depending on the losses; - Finally, the resolution of the EU-US dispute over aeronautics and, in the meantime, measures to protect wine exporters affected by this conflict. On this point, it is up to the French State to assume its responsibilities because of the aid it has granted in the past to the aeronautical sector. The French State must hear the concern of the French wine sector which, every day passing, continues to grow in the face of responses which, although encouraging, are far from sufficient! We are more than ever mobilized to jointly build with the public authorities the revival of a sector which, let us not forget, is a pillar of the national economy. Source: french Ministry fo Agricuture