REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL in accordance with Article 184(7) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 on implementation of the measure for the promotion of wines on third-country markets
Date: 2011-11-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: State aid, sales promotion, third country, wine

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 18.11.2011 
COM(2011) 774 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

in accordance with Article 184(7) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 

on implementation of the measure for the promotion of wines on third-country markets 

{SEC(2011) 1371 final} 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

Description of the measure and conditions for implementation .................................. 3 

Conditions for access to the measure and eligible actions........................................... 4 

Compatibility and coherence with other promotion measures..................................... 5 

Programming and implementation............................................................................... 5 

Programming................................................................................................................ 5 

Implementation, selection procedures for applications................................................ 6 

Budget implementation ................................................................................................ 7 

3.3.1.  Union participation and supplementary State aid ........................................................ 7 

3.3.2. 

Implementation in the Member States ......................................................................... 7 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 

4. 

Beneficiaries................................................................................................................. 9 

Actions carried out ..................................................................................................... 10 

Main markets concerned ............................................................................................ 11 

Assessment and suggestions from the Member States............................................... 12 

4.1.1.  Strengths..................................................................................................................... 12 

4.1.2.  Weaknesses ................................................................................................................ 12 

4.1.3.  Suggestions from the Member States......................................................................... 13 

5. 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 13 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

The  reform  of  the  CMO  in  wine  adopted  in  20081  and  incorporated  into  Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1234/2007  of  22  October  20072  (hereinafter  'the  Single  CMO 
Regulation') aims to restore market balance and increase the competitiveness of the 
sector while preserving the reputation and quality of the Union's wines. Traditional 
market measures such as distillation, the use of musts and the planting right regime 
are  being  gradually  phased  out  and  replaced  with  more  structural  measures 
(investment,  restructuring  and  conversion  of  vineyards)  and  a  new  measure  in  the 
form  of  promotion  in  third  countries.  All  of  these  measures  are  implemented  by 
means of national support programmes. Promotion on third-country markets is one of 
the  key  measures  under  this  reform  and  has  the  main  aim  of  increasing  the 
competitiveness of the Union's wines in third countries. 

In  accordance  with  Article  184(7)  of  the  Single  CMO  Regulation,  this  report 
concerns the implementation, during the first two years of application of the reform, 
of  the  measure  referred  to  in  Article  103p  of  that  Regulation  for  the  promotion  of 
wine  on  third-country  markets.  It  is  based  on  the  findings  of  audits  carried  out  in 
some  Member  States  and  on  the  information  provided  by  them,  in  particular  the 
implementation  reports  which,  in  accordance  with  Article  188a(6),  provide  an 
analysis of the costs and benefits of the national programmes and suggestions on how 
to increase their effectiveness.  

Additional  reports  and  evaluations  from  the  Member  States  are  expected  in  March 
each  year  until  2014,  concerning  in  particular  the  costs  and  benefits  of  the  support 
programmes,  including  the  promotion  measure.  This  information  will  make  it 
possible to refine the analysis of the measure. 

2. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURE AND CONDITIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

The  measure  for  the  promotion  of  wines  on  third-country  markets  is  governed  by 
Article 103p of the Single CMO Regulation and the implementing provisions thereof 
contained in Regulation (EC) No 555/20083, particularly Articles 2 to 5 specifically 
concerning  the  implementation  of  national  support  measures  and,  in  particular,  the 
promotion  measure,  and  Articles  35  to  37a  and  Annexes  I,  II,  IV,  V,  VI  and  VIII 
(reports, evaluations and general provisions). 

The  Member  States  submitted  their  first  national  support  programmes  on  30  June 
2008, incorporating, on an optional basis, one or more of the eligible measures listed 
in Article 103m of the Single OCM Regulation. The programmes cover a five-year 
period (2009-13) and may be modified twice a year (in March and June each year) to 
adapt to developments in the sector. 

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 148, 6.6.2008, p. 1. 
OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1. 
OJ L 170, 30.06.2008, p. 1. 

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2.1. 

Conditions for access to the measure and eligible actions 

The measure covers promotion or information provision in third countries in respect 
of wines with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication 
or wines with an indication of the wine grape variety (hereinafter 'varietal wines'). 

The legislation provides for five categories of action, namely: 

(A)  public 

relations,  promotional  or  advertisement  actions, 

in  particular 
highlighting the advantages of products from the Union, especially in terms of 
quality, food safety or environmental friendliness; 

(B)  participation at events, fairs or exhibitions of international importance; 

(C) 

information campaigns, in particular on the Union's systems for designations of 
origin, geographical indications and organic production; 

(D)  studies of new markets, necessary for the expansion of market outlets; 

(E) 

studies to evaluate the results of the information and promotion actions. 

Originally,  the  duration  of  the  measure  could  not  exceed  three  years  for  a  given 
beneficiary  and  market.  Since  20104,  a  measure  for  a  given  beneficiary  may  be 
renewed for a maximum of two years after an assessment of the actions carried out 
during the initial years. 

The support granted by the Union must not exceed 50% of the eligible expenditure 
and may be supplemented by national support. In such cases, the action must be in 
line with the rules on State aid. 

The  eligibility  conditions  are  described  in  detail  in  the  legislation,  but  it  is  worth 
stressing the main conditions, namely that: 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

the products covered by the measure must have export opportunities or market 
outlets in the targeted third countries and display high added value; 

the beneficiaries must have enough capacity and resources to face the specific 
constraints  of  trade  with  the  third  countries  concerned  and  to  ensure  that  the 
measure is implemented as effectively as possible; 

the  beneficiaries  may  be  private  companies  as  well  as  professional 
organisations,  producer  organisations,  inter-branch  organisations  or  (where  a 
Member State so decides) public bodies; 

preference  is  given  to  micro,  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  within  the 
meaning of Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC5; 

the actions selected are those providing the best value for money. 

4 
5 

OJ L 232, 2.9.2010, p. 1. 
Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized 
enterprises (OL L 124, 20.5.2003, p.36). 

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The  Member  States  implement  selection  procedures  that  take  account  of  the 
regulatory criteria in order to choose the projects offering the best value for money. 
During the examination stage in particular, they ensure that the applications fulfil the 
conditions and meet the statutory time limits. 

They also establish indicators for assessing the results and the impact of the measure 
and  regularly  send  the  Commission  data  and  reports  concerning  implementation  of 
the measure in accordance with the aforementioned provisions of the implementing 
Regulation. 

2.2. 

Compatibility and coherence with other promotion measures 

The  wine  sector  may  also  make  use  of  promotion  measures  under  horizontal 
measures,  including  the  promotion  of  agricultural  products  (Regulation  (EC) 
No 3/20086) and rural development (Regulation (EC) No 1698/20057). The Member 
States  must  ensure  that  promotion  measures  funded  under  the  Single  CMO  are 
compatible with those funded by other schemes and avoid any double financing. 

The  main  differences  between  the  Single  CMO  promotion  measure  and  those 
covered by Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 are that: 

- 

- 

- 

- 

private companies may receive support under the Single CMO; 

only third-country markets are covered under the Single CMO and not those of 
the Member States; 

actions  concerning  trade  marks  are  possible  under  the  Single  CMO  but  not 
under the horizontal promotion measures referred to above; 

the procedure for selecting applications is organised at national level under the 
Single  CMO,  while  for  the  horizontal  promotion  measures  there  is  a 
preselection at national level and a final selection by the Commission. 

3. 

PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION 

3.1. 

Programming 

The  budget  allocation  for  the  national  programmes  is  EUR 5.2  billion  for  the 
2009-13  period  (updated  figure  as  at  2011)  and,  as  decided  by  the  Member  States, 
the promotion measure represents 15.6% of this amount, i.e. EUR 768 million8. 

This  sum  has  been  on  an  upward  trend  over  the  course  of  the  period,  from 
EUR 35 million  committed  in  2009  to  a  planned  total  of  EUR 265 million  in  2013. 

6 
7 
8 

OJ L 3, 5.1.2008, p.1. 
OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1. 
In  2007,  during  the  discussions  preceding  the  reform,  the  Commission  proposed  an  annual  amount  of 
EUR 120 million  specifically  for  the  promotion  measure,  a  total  of  EUR 600 million  for  the  2009-13 
period. Subsequently, this measure was integrated into the range of measures under the programmes and 
the breakdown of sums between measures was left up to the Member States which, as can be seen, have 
exceeded the amount initially envisaged by the Commission for this measure. 

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The reasons for the progressive increase include the fact that market measures such 
as  potable  alcohol  distillation,  crisis  distillation  and  support  for  the  use  of 
concentrated musts will expire on 31 July 2012, as well as the need for the sector to 
adapt gradually to the new wine CMO (see table below). 

 Trend in the wine promotion measure 2009-13

  120

  100

  80

n
o

i
l
l
i

m
R
U
E

  60

  40

  20

  0

Italy

France

Spain

Portugal

AT,SI,DE,RO

Greece

Austria

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

3.2. 

Implementation, selection procedures for applications 

As  for  all  measures  under  the  support  programmes,  each  Member  State  has 
implemented the promotion measure in line with its own administrative structure. In 
2009,  Member  States  with  a  more  regionalised  structure  such  as  Spain,  Italy  and 
Germany  had  to  adopt  regional  implementing  provisions  for  the  measure.  This 
sometimes delayed to a certain degree the implementation of the measure during the 
first  year,  as  was  indeed  mentioned  by  those  Member  States  in  the  implementation 
report. 

When applications are being examined at Member State level, the provisions taken 
into  account  are  those  of  Union  law9  (e.g.  expected  impact,  value  added,  cost 
effectiveness of the project, technical and financial capacity of the project in terms of 
exports, projects jointly submitted by several countries and target market). Moreover, 
some Member States require applicants to provide, inter alia, a detailed strategic and 
marketing analysis, the duration of the programme, the target countries, the type of 
promotion, the specific objectives of the project, a detailed description of the actions 
carried  out,  a  budget  with  details  given  for  each  entry  and  the  expected  impact 
(forecast impact on growth in demand for the products concerned). 

So  far  as  the  procedures  for  selecting  applications  are  concerned,  the  priorities  for 
access  to  the  measure,  the  conditions  for  payments  and  the  organisation  of  checks 
can  differ  from  Member  State  to  Member  State  in  accordance  with  each  one's 
administrative structure and the way its wine sector is organised. 

In order to select those projects offering the best value for money, the Member States 
use a set of criteria laid down by the legislation in the wine sector. The 'micro, small 
and medium-sized enterprise' criterion does not appear to be a predominant criterion. 

9 

Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and its implementing provisions in Regulation (EC) No 555/2008. 

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By  way  of  example,  in  France,  where  inter-branch  organisations,  producer 
organisations  and  professional  organisations  are  highly  structured,  the  selection 
priorities  differ  depending  on  whether  programmes  are  put  forward  by  such 
organisations or by private companies. 

In  Italy,  30%  of  the  budget  allocated  to  the  promotion  measure  is  managed  at 
national level for projects submitted by inter-branch organisations, national producer 
organisations  and  professional  organisations,  and  enterprises  or  joint  ventures 
representing  production  in  several  regions.  The  remaining  70%  of  the  budget  is 
managed at regional level for projects submitted specifically by enterprises and joint 
ventures  representing  production  at  regional  level  or  even  a  single  protected 
designation of origin or protected geographical indication. 

It may also be noted that the target markets concerned represent an important factor 
in  the  selection  of  applications.  Some  Member  States  restrict  the  target  markets  or 
prioritise  markets  in  line  with  their  characteristics  ('consolidated',  'potential'  and 
'emerging'  markets  (see  point  3.6)).  The  target  markets  vary  between  the  Member 
States,  with  some  markets  being  considered  'consolidated'  for  some  Member  States 
and  'emerging'  or  even  totally  unexplored for  others.  In  Germany,  for  example,  the 
financial contribution is a maximum of 25% of the eligible expenditure for markets 
that are not recommended. 

3.3. 

Budget implementation 

During the first two years of the reform, nine Member States (FR, ES, IT, PT, EL, 
AT, SI, DE, RO) have actually implemented the promotion measure, for an overall 
total of around EUR 35 million in 2009 and EUR 87 million in 2010, corresponding 
to 6.7% of the total value of the national allocations for the same period. 

3.3.1.  Union participation and supplementary State aid 

For  all  those  Member  States,  the  Union  aid  granted  in  2009-10  was  50%  of  the 
eligible expenditure, in accordance with the rules which establish a 50% ceiling. The 
exception was Italy, where the figure was 47% of the eligible expenditure owing to 
the  fact  that,  in  2009,  enterprises  other  than  micro,  small  and  medium-sized 
enterprises that promoted their brands received maximum Union funding of 30% of 
the eligible expenditure.  

Supplementary  State  aid  was  granted  during  the  same  period  except  in  Spain  and 
Slovenia.  This  totalled  EUR 5.9  million  or  2.4%  of  the  Union's  share.  In  Italy, 
supplementary  national  aid  cannot  exceed  20%  of  the  eligible  expenditure  and 
represented 2.2% of the Union aid granted there. In France, only two projects run by 
the  Comité  des  interprofessions  des  vins  à  appellations  d'origine  received 
supplementary  national  aid,  totalling  25%  of  the  eligible  expenditure.  In  Portugal, 
State aid corresponded to 5.2% of the eligible expenditure. 

3.3.2. 

Implementation in the Member States 

The amounts spent by the three main wine producing and exporting Member States 
in the Union (FR, ES, IT) accounted for around 87% of the budget implementation in 
2009 and 2010 (see graph below). 

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 Breakdown of Community aid for wine promotion granted in 2009 and 2010

PT
5.1%

AT,SI,DE,RO
3.3%

EL
4.3%

ES
25.7%

IT
24.5%

FR
37.1%

In  general,  the  Member  States  significantly  cut  their  estimates  for  the  promotion 
measure,  except  for  Austria  and  Greece.  Bulgaria  reallocated  the  budget  initially 
planned for the promotion measure to the restructuring and conversion measures (see 
table below). 

Implementation of promotion measures on third-country markets as compared to the national programmes on the whole

2009 + 2010

Initial estimate

Final implementation

DE

8.7%

0.9%

Implementation rate - promotion

10.5%

EL

18%

15.6%

85%

ES

10%

6.3%

65%

FR

23%

11.4%

50%

IT

8%

5.6%

71%

AT

13%

12.3%

93%

PT

12%

7.0%

57%

RO

1.0%

0.2%

SI

23%

EU

11.6%

15.6%

6.7%

17.1%

67%

58.0%

The fact that many Member States reallocated funds to other measures under the aid 
programme may be explained by: 

- 

the need to bolster other measures. 

France  noted,  in  particular,  the  economic  crisis  in  2008  and  2009  and  the 
worldwide  fall  in  wine  consumption,  which  apparently  hit  'high-price'  French 
wines hardest, and the need to reallocate funds to the investment measure and 
other measures with a more beneficial effect on the internal market. 

- 

administrative  difficulties  in  implementing  this  new  measure  (in  the  Member 
State and the third countries concerned). 

Germany  seems  to  have  had  the  most  administrative  difficulties  owing  to  the 
division of powers between the federal administration and the administrations 
of the federal states. In Germany, two projects were funded at federal level and 
only one by a federal state, Rhineland Palatinate. 

The Member States have also mentioned other factors that may explain this low rate 
of  implementation,  such  as  the  economic  crisis  and  the  difficulty  for  many 
enterprises, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, to access credit 

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to cofinance the measure. Austria and Cyprus pointed out that a bad harvest may also 
have had a negative impact on the forecasts. 

3.4. 

Beneficiaries 

In  2009-10,  672  beneficiaries  participated  in  the  promotion  measure  (see  table 
below).  It  should  be  noted  that  the  majority  of  beneficiaries  participate  in  several 
projects,  which  may  cover  one  or  more  actions  and  target  several  markets. 

Union support to beneficiaries (2009 and 2010) 

In EUR

FR

IT

ES

PT

EL

AT,SI,DE,RO

Total

Amount of support granted

45 313 425

29 978 077

31 222 343

6 232 571

5 233 000

4 405 465

122 384 882

Number of beneficiaries

98

89

 290

62

42

91

  672

Average amount of support per beneficiary

 462 382

 336 832

 107 663

 100 525

 124 595

 48 412

 182 120

Maximum amount

7 571 438

3 753 558

3 657 739

 647 320

7 571 438

No joint project was submitted between beneficiaries from different Member States. 

All categories of eligible beneficiaries are represented (see graph below). It may be 
seen  that,  in  some  Member  States  where  inter-branch  organisations,  producer 
organisations  and  professional  organisations  are  more  highly  represented,  the 
average  expenditure  per  project  is  higher  and  there  is  greater  variability  between 
small  and  large  projects.  The  Union's  average  expenditure  per  beneficiary  was 
EUR 182 120. 

Breakdown of Union support by category of beneficiary - 2009 and 2010

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Inter-branch organisations, professional
organisations and public bodies

Private beneficiaries and producer organisations

FR

IT

ES

PT

EL

AT,SI,DE,RO

EU27

In  Italy,  where  the  average  per  beneficiary  was  EUR 336 832,  the  creation  of  joint 
ventures  whose  main  objective  was  to  carry  out  joint  promotion  actions  made  it 
possible to a certain degree to overcome the difficulties stemming from the relatively 
small size of the enterprises. 

In France, a greater average level of expenditure per beneficiary (EUR 462 382) may 
be  explained  by  the  high  degree  of  participation  by  inter-branch  organisations, 
producer organisations and professional organisations, which represented 67% of the 
budget received from the Union (e.g. Comité national des interprofessions on the US 

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and  Swiss  markets).  This  allowed  improvements  in  operators'  knowledge  and  the 
creation of synergies with other players. It should be noted that enterprises accounted 
for 3% of the budget implemented in 2009 and 53% in 2010,  giving an average of 
33%. 

In  Spain,  where  the  average  expenditure  per  beneficiary  was  EUR 107 663,  the 
majority  of  projects  were  submitted  by  enterprises  and  producers'  cooperatives.  It 
may  also  be  noted  that,  in  Spain,  many  beneficiaries  submitted  several  projects  for 
different target markets. 

3.5. 

Actions carried out 

2 781 actions were carried out in 2009-10. 

With regard to the implementation of the actions referred to in point 2.1, which may 
take various forms (see the table below), there have been an average of 1.7 actions 
per project, with a significant majority of projects focusing primarily on action (A). 
This  action  is  carried  out  on  practically  all  the  markets  targeted  (70-90%  of  the 
expenditure)  and  is  sometimes  supplemented  by  actions  (B)  and  (C),  for  which  the 
amounts paid are significantly lower (5-20% of the expenditure). 

Action 

(cf. 2.1.) 

Description 

Public  relations,  aimed  in  particular  at  buyers,  journalists,  sommeliers, 
wine  educators,  wine  merchants,  etc.,  trade  missions,  press  relations, 
media  publicity  and  advertisements,  tastings,  product  presentations, 
production of brochures and other support material, creation of websites 
dedicated 
to  exports,  costs  of  brand  creation  and  development, 
promotional  activities  at  sales  points,  organisation  of  events  (meetings 
with distributors, communication, workshops). 

Promotional  events  in  third  countries,  such  as  fairs,  street  events, 
dinners,  seminars  and  tastings  organised  for  different  target  groups 
(journalists,  representatives  of  the  distribution  sector,  importers  and 
consumers). 

Information  provision  concerning  production  systems  and  product 
specifications:  meetings  with  opinion  leaders  and  journalists,  seminars, 
tastings. 

Market  studies,  marketing  expert  reports  and  advice,  pre-testing  to 
validate  new  products,  pre-validation  studies  for  brand  launches,  focus 
groups, panels. 

(A) 

(B) 

(C) 

(D) 

Uptake of action (D) concerning studies of new markets and studies to evaluate the 
results of the actions carried out was very low.  

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Although  the  main  message  of  the  actions  under  the  promotion  measure  refers  to 
wines  from  the  Union  with  a  protected  designation  of  origin  or  protected 
geographical  indication  and  varietal  wines,  it  may  be  seen  that  it  is  often 
accompanied by a reference to the Member State of production. Indeed, the Member 
States have confirmed that indicating this information is fundamentally important in 
terms  of  the  value  added  of  the  actions  carried  out  and  that  it  is  often  difficult  for 
consumers  in  third  countries  to  pinpoint  the  origin  of  wines  from  the  Union, 
particularly for small wine-producing countries or protected designations of origin or 
protected  geographical  indications  that  are  little  known  or  even  unknown  in  third 
countries. 

3.6.  Main markets concerned 

The  actions  in  2009  and  2010  concerned  42  third  countries,  which  may  be  divided 
into three categories: 

• 

• 

• 

traditional  consolidated  markets  to  be  further  developed:  markets  on  which 
European  producers  are  already  present,  which  are  open  to  exports  and  on 
which  an  increase  in  consumption  has  been  noted.  These  are  also  target 
markets  for  the  sale  of  wines  with  high  value  added.  (USA,  Canada, 
Switzerland); 

emerging  markets:  markets  which  are  less  developed  than  the  first  category, 
although  wines  from  the  Union  can  still  be  found.  These  are  mainly  Asian 
markets  (China/Hong  Kong,  Japan,  South  Korea,  Singapore),  Russia,  Mexico 
and Brazil. Some of these countries, such as Russia and China, are developing 
rapidly  and  have  significant  potential.  Others,  such  as  Japan,  remain  more 
stable and hard to develop; 

potential  markets:  little  known  markets  which,  by  virtue  of  their  economic 
growth, may offer significant opportunities. These are countries such as India 
and some former Soviet republics. 

Only  37%  of  the  financed  projects  targeted  a  single  market,  while  the  majority 
targeted  between  two  and  seven  separate  markets.  There  was  a  very  significant 
geographical  concentration  in  the  actions,  with  75%  of  them  covering  seven 
countries 
(USA,  China/Hong  Kong,  Japan,  Mexico,  Canada,  Russia  and 
Switzerland);  the  six  largest  of  these  markets  accounted  for  approximately  75%  by 
volume and by value of the Union's exports in 2010. 

The United States market was the most frequently targeted, with 22% of the actions 
being  aimed  at  it  and  eight  of  the  nine  Member  States  that  participated  in  the 
measures targeting it most. It may be noted that certain markets are favoured markets 
for  certain  Member  States,  e.g.  Mexico  for  Spain,  Brazil  for  Portugal,  the  other 
former  Yugoslav  countries  for  Slovenia,  Canada  for  Italy,  China  and  Japan  for 
France, Russia for Greece and Switzerland for Austria.  

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Target markets for the actions in 2009 and 2010 

United States

China
Hong Kong

Japan

Mexico

Canada

Russia

Switzerlan Brazil

Others 

22%

10.9%

9.2%

8.1%

7.9%

7.8%

7.3%

3.7%

23.3%  

4. 

ASSESSMENT AND SUGGESTIONS FROM THE MEMBER STATES 

All  the  Member  States  that  participated  in  the  promotion  measure  consider  it  to  be 
very beneficial for the wine sector. They have pointed out that, after the 2008 crisis, 
the period since 2009 has seen a rise in exports, in particular on the markets targeted 
by the promotion measure. 

4.1.1.  Strengths 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

the  opportunity  for  companies  to  avail  themselves  of  the  aid  scheme,  unlike 
under the horizontal scheme. This opportunity provides an enormous boost to 
the sector; 

the direct impact in the third countries where the actions are carried out and the 
creation  of  new  skills  (knowledge  and  opening  up  of  commercial  channels, 
knowledge of markets, legislation and clients, creation of contacts); 

the flexibility and subsidiarity of the measure's implementation allow account 
to  be  taken  of  the  specific  characteristics  of  the  sector  in  the  individual 
Member States and their individual administrative requirements; 

the  opportunity  to  create  synergies  and  complementary  actions  between 
inter-branch  organisations,  producer  organisations 
and  professional 
organisations,  enterprises  and  joint  ventures  and  public  bodies,  creating 
positive mutual knock-on effects; 

the opening up of new markets and the possibility of gaining better knowledge 
of markets and obtaining new opportunities; 

the  improved  tailoring  of  wines  to  market  needs  (production,  packaging, 
labelling); 

a multiplier effect on other beneficiaries. The more actions are carried out, the 
greater the impact of the measure. 

4.1.2.  Weaknesses 

- 

- 

the  difficulty  of  managing  the  measure  from  an  administrative  viewpoint,  a 
problem  highlighted  in  particular  by  Portugal,  Italy  and  Austria  (particularly 
the  complexity  of  examining  the  supporting  documents  for  costs);  on 
developing  markets,  the  reaction  times  may  be  too  slow  (changes  to 
programmes when they are underway); 

the  lack  of  logistical  infrastructure,  technical  knowledge  and  support  in  the 
emerging markets; 

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- 

certain  Member  States,  such  as  Italy  and  Portugal,  have  stressed  that  micro, 
small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  have  encountered  more  difficulties  in 
satisfying  the  conditions  for  accessing  the  measure  (availability  of  products, 
technical capacity for exporting and limited funds). 

4.1.3.  Suggestions from the Member States 

In order to improve the cost effectiveness of the promotion measure, some Member 
States, while not putting forward concrete proposals for amending Union legislation, 
have suggested: 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

extending the measure to the internal market, given that it is the leading world 
market for wine and that third countries have gained a significant market share; 
this should be done in such a way as to avoid competition between wines from 
the Union or, possibly, by restricting the actions to information provision; 

prioritising, in an effective manner, access to the measure for micro, small and 
medium-sized enterprises; 

encouraging studies of new markets and assessments of the actions carried out. 
These  are  fundamentally  important  for  obtaining  technical  and  marketing 
information that will serve as a basis for other actions; 

creating  synergies  with  other,  more  structural  measures,  with  a  view  in 
particular  to  facilitating  and  bolstering  the  presence  of  EU  operators  on  new 
markets  (mainly  with  a  view  to  creating  the  initial  channels  together  with 
importers);  

increasing the efficiency of administrative checking, in particular by providing 
for  lump-sum  payments  for  actions  entailing  standard  costs,  such  as  travel 
expenses. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

After  only  two  years  of  implementation  of  the  promotion  measure  by  the  Member 
States,  it  is  too  early  to  draw  definitive  conclusions,  particularly  in  terms  of  an 
increase  in  competitiveness  and  presence  on  third-country  markets.  Although  wine 
exports  to  some  countries,  especially  the  target  markets,  have  been  on  the  increase 
since  2009  the  complexity  of  the  factors  influencing  trade  patterns  (exchange  rate 
variations,  the  economic  crisis,  local  political  crises,  changes  of  legislation  in  the 
target countries, etc.) means that it is not possible to determine the extent to which 
the results obtained stem directly from the promotion measure. 

It may nevertheless be stated that, with EUR 122 million being spent in the first two 
years,  the  measure  has  been  very  successful  and  is  very  much  appreciated  by 
operators.  The  forecast  expenditure  of  EUR 768  million  for  the  2009-13  period 
indicates a growing interest in the measure, resulting in its becoming the second most 
important  measure  under  the  aid  programmes,  in  financial  terms,  after  that  on  the 
restructuring and conversion of vineyards. 

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The  promotion  measure  seems  to  have  made  it  possible,  initially  at  least,  to 
consolidate  the  presence  of  enterprises  from  the  Union  on  the  traditional  export 
markets and seems to have given an opportunity, through market studies, to explore 
and access new markets. 

It is above all the flexibility and subsidiarity of the implementation of the promotion 
measure  that  allow  the  wine  sectors  in  the  various  Member  States,  or  the  various 
regions, to fine tune it to the specific characteristics of the target countries. 

What is more, the possibility of creating new contacts and of obtaining the necessary 
knowledge to adapt to markets (new products, labelling, etc.) provides an enormous 
boost to the sector. 

In the light of some comments from the Member States, routes that can be explored 
include  (1)  possibly  strengthening  the  synergies  between  the  various  actions  and 
beneficiaries;  (2)  better  tailoring  the  market  studies  in  order  to  reduce  the  future 
dependence of exports on a limited number of markets; (3) a more targeted selection 
of  beneficiaries  in  order  to  optimise  the  measure;  (4)  providing  the  Member  States 
with guidelines on the criteria for accepting projects. 

Further consideration could be given, in the report that the Commission is to submit 
to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  in  2012,  to  the  'micro,  small  and 
medium-sized enterprises' criterion and to the eligibility conditions for the measure. 

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