9 million electricity: Council of States distributes money for wine growers

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Wine growers can be happy: in the future, 9 million francs per year will flow into wine promotion. The small chamber decided on Monday with 30 votes in favor, 12 against and one abstention, at the request of the minority of the Economic Commission (WAK-S). The motion from the Economic Committee of the National Council is now before the Federal Council. The Grand Chamber supported it in June 2022 with 98 votes in favor, 61 votes in favor and 22 abstentions.

Fabio Regazzi (center/TI) argued that there is virtually no border protection for Swiss wine anymore. This and the high advertising money from foreign producers put Swiss wines under increasing pressure. Concessions would also be made in free trade agreements, for example to Chile.

More money was already flowing during the pandemic

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, wine sales were supported by the federal government with R2.8 million annually. The amount was then temporarily increased due to the pandemic. Agriculture Minister Guy Parmelin unsuccessfully opposed the motion, citing the federal government’s tight finances.

If necessary, the sales promotion can be adapted to the situation, says Pirmin Bischof (middle/SO). Wine and other agricultural product groups should also not be treated unequally.

On Monday, the Council of States approved two more motions from the National Council for Viticulture. According to Parliament’s wishes, wine growers should be given more entrepreneurial freedom when felling and replanting vineyards. It wants to remove the ten-year period for new plantings from wine regulations. The Federal Council must now act against his will.

More flexibility

Under current legislation, if a wine-growing area is cleared, it must be replanted with vines within ten years. If this is not the case, the area will be removed from the wine growing register and lost to viticulture.

Here too, the Council of States followed a minority of its Economic Commission. This showed that without this deadline, wine growers had more flexibility. Carlo Sommaruga (SP/GE) saw the removal of the ten-year period as an opportunity to create more biodiversity-friendly wine plantations.

Baptiste Hurni (SP/NE) added that when the regulation was introduced in the 1950s, they wanted to avoid too many vineyards. Since then, vineyard areas have shrunk. There is no longer any interest in the ten-year term.

The majority of the committee opposed the request. Peter Hegglin (middle/ZG) pointed out that it mainly protects those who want to give up a vineyard. The deadline introduced in 1953 has proven itself and offers wine growers a certain degree of certainty.

Former winemaker Guy Parmelin also rejected the request. Without the deadline, the cleared wine-growing areas would remain in the land registry forever, he said. The authority for flexibility must remain with the cantons, he warned. According to agricultural statistics, there were approximately 13,800 hectares of vineyards in Switzerland in 2023. (she/SDA)

Source:Blick