WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/AG/N/EU/8 
3 April 2012 
 (12-1739) 
Committee on Agriculture Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION  
 
  The following submission, dated 29 February 2012,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the  European Union .  The notification concerns new or modified domestic support 
measures exempt from reduction ( Table DS:2 ). 
 G/AG/N/EU/8 
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  Table DS:2 
 
DOMESTIC SUPPORT:  European Union 
Notification under Article 18:3 of the Agreement:  
New or modified domestic support measures exempt from reduction  
 
(1) Full title of measure 
  Reform of the Common Market Organisation in the wine sector 
 
 EU funds are attributed to member States through national support programmes containing 
specific support measures or for grubbing up of vineyards.  The national programmes shall 
contain one or more of the following measures: 
o Support under the Single Payment Scheme (Regulation 1782/2003) 
o Promotion on third-country markets 
o Restructuring and conversion of vineyards 
o Green harvesting 
o Support for the setting-up of mutual funds 
o Harvest insurance 
o Investment measures 
o By-product distillation 
o Potable alcohol distillation 
o Crisis distillation 
o Support for the use of concentrated grape must 
 A sub-set of these measures is referred to in this notification as Green Box measures: 
o Support under the Single Payment Scheme (Regulation 1782/2003) 
o Support for the setting-up of mutual funds 
o Investment measures 
o Grubbing-up scheme 
Support for the measures not mentioned in this  subset is notified as support falling under the 
EU's Uruguay Round Agreement on Agricultu re's reduction commitment.  However, 
promotion on third-country markets constitutes widely available export promotion in the 
sense of article 9.1(d) of the Agreement on Agriculture and is therefore not subject to 
reduction commitments under this Agreement. 
  
(2) Detailed description of measure with reference to criteria, i.e. those in 
 
Annex 2 paragraph 6  
Single Payment Scheme .  A budgetary provision origina ting from the national financial 
envelope is integrated in the EU ceiling for the direct payments for the decoupled Single  G/AG/N/EU/8 
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  Payment Scheme.  Once effective, the suppor t remains in the Single Payment Scheme on a 
permanent basis and is no longer available in  subsequent years for the operation of the 
national support programmes.  A detailed description of the Single Payment Scheme is 
included in notification G/AG/N/EEC/58 and will not be repeated here. 
 Annex 2 paragraph 2 
 
Support for the setting-up of mutual funds.  Support for the setting-up of mutual funds 
provides assistance to producers seeking to insure  themselves against market fluctuations.  
Support for the setting-up of mutual funds is gran ted in the form of temporary and digressive 
aid to cover the administrative costs of the f unds.  The support meets the general criteria in 
paragraph 1 of Annex 2 of th e Agreement on Agriculture. 
 
Annex 2 paragraph 11 
 Investment measures.  Support may be granted for tangible or intangible investments in 
processing facilities, infrastructure and marketi ng which improve the overall performance of 
the enterprises.  Such investment measures may concern the production or marketing of 
products, as well as the development of new pr oducts, processes and technologies in response 
to objectively demonstrated structural disadvantages.  
Annex 2 paragraph 11  
 
Grubbing-up scheme.  Support may be granted in exchange for grubbing-up vines.  This 
support is given in response to objectively de monstrated structural disadvantages and is 
intended as a temporary accompanying measure aimed at creating a wine sector which is 
attuned to market conditions.  Areas can be  permanently withdrawn from wine production, 
and it is up to producers to decide whether to pursue alternative activities on that land or to retire from agricultural production.   
(3) Domestic legislation references 
 
Council Regulation (EC) 479/2008 of 29 April 2008 on the common organisation of the 
market in wine, amending Regulation 1493/1999, 1782/2003, 1290/2005, 3/2008 and repealing Regulations 2392/86 and 1493/99 (OJ L 1 48, 6.6.2008, p. 1), currently integrated in 
the single Common Market Organisation Regulation (EC) 1234/2007. 
 
 
(4) Cost of measure 
 
Following EU member States' decisions on dec oupling, the national ceilings for decoupled 
direct payments were increased from 2010 onwards. 
 
Other than that, the amount disbursed to memb er States for the use of funds through national 
support programmes containing specific support measures in the year 2009 was EUR 747 million.  Within this amount, the Green Box expenditure was:  
1. Support for the setting-up of mutual funds (no spending took place in 2009), 
2. Investment measures (EUR 18.642 million in 2009), 3. Grubbing-up scheme (EUR 447 million in 2009). 
  G/AG/N/EU/8 
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  (5) Date of entry into effect 
 
Entry into force is from 6 May 2008.   (6) Period of application 
 
 National support measures: Indefinite. 
 However, the following measures are phased out by 2012: - potable alcohol distillation 
- crisis distillation 
- support for the use of concentrated grape must. 
 
 Grubbing-up scheme: applicable in 2009, 2010, 2011. 
  (7) Products to principally benefit (if any individual product(s)) 
 
The decoupled support is by definitio n not intended for individual products. 
 
Other support notified concerns the wine sector. 
 
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