“We have brought together the world of European wine for an open exchange of experiences and perspectives from each country, to be shared with the participating institutions. The unanimous convergence has led us to call strongly on the European Commission for a new marketing strategy for wine. Europe is not yet strong enough in export and it is hoped the Commission will support the sector in leveling out the interests of the major exporters.”
With these words Domenico Zonin, president of the Italian wine union, opened the proceedings of the round table entitled, “Europe’s wine trade. Global experiences and perspectives” organized at Expo at the Biodivesity Park Pavilion, with an aim to provide a comprehensive overview on the state and prospects of the European wine sector, in a dialogue with representatives of the European wine producers association and with the relative Italian institutions, in a moment of confrontation at the summit.
“The European context in which we move – says Zonin – shows weak economic growth. Export has to focus more and more on non Eu countries. It is enough to say that today, out of the top 15 markets for our wines, only 5 are outside Europe (Us, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and China). In addition, the top three customers of our wines (Usa, Germany, Uk) cover 58% of Italian wine exports in volume and 54% in value of what is obvious is that Europe needs a strong business strategy that focuses its attention on free trade agreements by identifying some priority countries for negotiations. It also needs to undertake the Russian front where Italian wine, although saved from the embargo, is paying the same sanctions policy, resulting in -54% in volume (2.7 million liters) and -56.5% in value (€ 5.8 million) compared to the same period last year. An opening and a new policy will also be needed towards countries of great interest such as those in Africa, which should be addressed with a unified strategy, providing fewer barriers and export support.”
Zonin reiterated how at present it is impossible to go any further than the commitment already made in the field and asked the representatives of EU institutions, to seek a way of achieving a shared and effective course of action to give Italian and European wine system the possibility to move freely and safely in the world, in compliance with the passion, effort and investment of each company.
“Wine is one of the most important sectors of made in Italy, with more than € 5 billion exported in 2014 – said Maurizio Martina, minister of Agriculture. In the coming months we have to work hard on markets outside Europe, also to react to the Russian embargo. Italian wine still has great growth potential and we are working to better support companies. With the internationalization plan developed with Ministry of Economic Development we aim to work on distribution and logistics platforms that support the entry of our products in the markets. We work for this measure to become European, thus overcoming any technical and administration problem. We must seize the opportunities in terms of promotion and improve our project management skills.”