Regulation (EU) 2026/471 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 February 2026 amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) No 251/2014 and (EU) 2021/2115 as regards certain market rules and sectoral support measures in the wine sector and for aromatised wine products and Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 as regards certain labelling rules for spirit drinks

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 42, first paragraph, Article 43(2) and Article 118, first paragraph, thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),

Whereas:

(1) While the Union remains the global leader in wine production, consumption and exported value, societal and demographic changes are having an impact on the amount, quality, and types of wine consumed. Wine consumption in the Union is at its lowest level in three decades while traditional export markets for Union wines are adversely affected by a combination of decreasing consumption trends and geopolitical factors, leading to more uncertain export patterns. In addition, given the wine sector’s vulnerability to climate change, wine production is becoming unpredictable. The resulting oversupply leads to a decrease in prices, meaning that winegrowers have less income to invest in their businesses and lower financial reserves for them to fall back on if one of the more frequent and often localised severe weather events hits their region.

(2) The High-Level Group on Wine Policy (‘HLG’) was established to discuss those challenges and to identify possible opportunities for the Union wine sector. It reflected on how to better support a sector that is currently facing structural challenges, for example by managing the production potential, enhancing competitiveness and exploring new market opportunities. After four meetings, the HLG endorsed ‘policy recommendations for the future of the EU wine sector’.

(3) In order to provide the best possible support to wine producers facing such challenges, it is appropriate to reflect the most urgent recommendations of the HLG in the legal framework applicable to wines and aromatised wine products.

(4) In the wine sector, the relationship between production supply, consumer demand and exports on the world market is currently unstable, resulting in serious market disturbances. In addition, there is a trend towards a continued decrease in wine consumption in the Union due to changes in consumer habits and lifestyle. The existing scheme of authorisations for vine plantings is considered essential to maintain the balance between the supply capacity of the sector, a fair standard of living for producers and reasonable prices for consumers, whilst ensuring diversity of wines and responding to the specificities of the Union wine sector. The Union wine sector has specific characteristics, including the long lifecycle of its vineyards, resulting from the fact that production is only possible several years after planting but then continues for several decades and that it has the potential for considerable fluctuations from one harvest to the next. The Union wine sector is also characterised by a very high percentage of small, family-run farms, which results in a diverse range of wines. Such producers need long-term predictability to justify the significant investment required to plant a vineyard and to guarantee the economic viability of their projects over time, in the process improving the competitiveness of the Union wine sector on the global market. In order to consolidate the Union wine sector’s achievements to date and to achieve sustainable balance between quantity and quality in the sector, through the continued orderly growth of vine planting, the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings should be extended, subject to reviews every 10 years to evaluate the scheme. If appropriate, proposals should be presented on the basis of the results of those reviews with a view to improving the competitiveness of the wine sector.

(5) In view of the current decline in demand for wine, winegrowers who hold valid unused authorisations for new plantings and authorisations resulting from the conversion of planting rights granted to them before 1 January 2025 should not be penalised for not using these authorisations. That should have the effect of removing the incentive for planting authorisation holders to plant vineyards where there might be no demand for the wine produced. Administrative penalties should continue to apply in respect of the non-use of planting authorisations granted after 1 January 2025 in order to discourage speculative applications for such authorisations from winegrowers who have no intention of planting a vineyard.

(6) With natural disasters, severe meteorological events and plant disease outbreaks becoming more frequent, Member States should be given the possibility to extend by up to twelve months the validity of planting authorisations granted for the region affected and due to expire by the end of the marketing year concerned. Holders of such planting authorisations should have the possibility to renounce their authorisations without incurring administrative penalties where they inform the competent authorities of the Member State that they do not wish to make use of their authorisations within the extended deadline. While administrative penalties aim to prevent speculative applications for planting authorisations, exceptional circumstances can lead to unforeseen practical difficulties for winegrowers, preventing them from planting new vineyards. In order to avoid additional hardship in such cases, the competent authorities of the Member States should be allowed to waive the administrative penalties for the non-use of a planting authorisation upon a justified request from the winegrower concerned.

(7) Concerning the management of the production potential, a longer validity period of replanting authorisations should be established to give producers more time to explore the possibility of planting varieties which are better adapted to the market demand or to the changing climatic conditions or of using new vineyard management techniques. Furthermore, to alleviate pressure on winegrowers, they should not face administrative penalties if they decide not to use a replanting authorisation.

(8) The last day of the validity of authorisations granted under Articles 64, 66 and 68 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) before the entry into force of this amending Regulation is dependent on their date of issuance. As an administrative simplification, all those authorisations should remain valid until the last day of the relevant marketing year.

(9) Abandoned vineyards can harbour pests and diseases and can therefore pose a risk to the surrounding vineyard area. Member States should therefore be permitted to require the grubbing up of such abandoned vineyards. The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts laying down conditions for such grubbing up.

(10) Where, in justified crisis situations, national or Union measures aimed at reducing the supply (concerning distillation, green harvesting or grubbing up of vineyards) are or have been implemented, Member States should be given the possibility to limit the issuing of new planting authorisations at regional level in respect of specific areas with excess supply, in order to avoid increasing the production potential.

(11) In order to better take into account recent trends in the wine sector, Member States should have the flexibility to set regional limits on the issuing of new planting authorisations for specific areas that are as low as 0 %, with a view to managing the production potential. Where a Member State decides to set such regional limits for specific areas to avoid an excessive increase in production potential, it is appropriate to allow that Member State to require that the authorisations granted for the area concerned by the regional limit be used in that area.

(12) Products with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication have unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how. In order to protect the reputation of such products and to avoid the risk of significant devaluation or improper use by third parties, it is appropriate to allow Member States to set limitations in granting new planting authorisations, to adopt measures to prevent the circumvention of rules concerning the safeguard mechanism for new plantings, and to lay down the eligibility and priority criteria for the granting of authorisations for new plantings in the areas concerned.

(13) In order to avoid aggravating the risk of oversupply in regions where a Member State has opted to limit the granting of new planting authorisations, the Member State should be able to set eligibility conditions for the granting of new planting authorisations to avoid excessive yields in the new vineyards planted in the regions concerned.

(14) It should be clarified that, when granting vine planting authorisations, Member States should be able to use objective, non-discriminatory eligibility and priority criteria that result in preference being given to vineyards that contribute to improving products with geographical indications or their quality.

(15) When Member States decide to make use of the possibility of limiting the issuing of authorisations at regional level, taking into consideration recommendations presented by recognised professional organisations operating in the wine sector, it is appropriate to further clarify which kinds of organisations can issue such recommendations.

(16) Replanting authorisations are granted to producers who have grubbed up an area planted with vines and submitted an application. It should be clarified that a winegrower who receives support for the grubbing up of vines in accordance with Article 216(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or Article 58(1), first subparagraph, point (o), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) is not entitled to a replanting authorisation for the area in question.

(17) Replanting authorisations must be used on the same holding on which the grubbing up was undertaken, but it is possible to use them on a different plot of land within the same holding. Given that holdings can consist of plots of land in different production regions, it is important to give Member States the possibility to ensure that, in areas eligible for the production of wine with protected designation of origin or protected geographical indications, no replanting authorisations resulting from the grubbing up of vineyards outside that area are used. It is appropriate that Member States take such a decision on the basis of a recommendation from a professional organisation that is representative in the area concerned.

(18) While the replanting of a grubbed up vineyard does not increase the vineyard area, Member States should be given the possibility to set rules for replanting in order to better manage the territorial distribution of vineyards, for instance to avoid the relocation of vineyards to regions with a market imbalance or away from slopes and terraces, where they play an important role in the preservation of the landscape and avoid soil erosion. Member States should also be given the possibility to set conditions in respect of vines producing specific types of wine and production methods identified by the Member State as significantly increasing the average yield of the production region, or conditions to ensure preservation of traditional production methods.

(19) In order to ensure a proportionate approach to the application of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings while taking into consideration the serious risks that oversupply represents to the market, it is appropriate to establish a maximum threshold of hectares of planted vineyards below which Member States are exempted from the obligation to apply the scheme of planting authorisations.

(20) Recent years have seen an ever-increasing demand on the part of consumers for grapevine products with a reduced alcohol content produced by de-alcoholisation by using certain techniques allowed in the Union. The production of partially de-alcoholised wines by the blending, or ‘coupage’, of de-alcoholised wine or partially de-alcoholised wine with wine or partially de-alcoholised wine should be allowed, since it can enhance the sensory characteristics of the final product and offers a way of producing partially de-alcoholised wines more sustainably.

(21) High consumer demand for sparkling wine products with a reduced alcohol content or without alcohol represents an opportunity for the sector. However, the rules for the production of de-alcoholised wines impose certain technological limitations on the production of sparkling wine products. According to the rules currently in force, wine products must have attained the characteristics and the minimum actual alcoholic strength of the corresponding product category before undergoing the de-alcoholisation process. This implies that de-alcoholised and partially de-alcoholised sparkling wine products can only be produced from sparkling wines of the same category. However, the de-alcoholisation process entirely removes the carbon dioxide from the initial sparkling wine. Consequently, to produce a sparkling wine product with reduced or no alcohol content, it is necessary to reintroduce the carbon dioxide in the partially or totally de-alcoholised wine using a new, separate process. Therefore, producers should be allowed to produce de-alcoholised or partially de-alcoholised sparkling wine, semi-sparkling wine, aerated sparkling wine and aerated semi-sparkling wine directly from a de-alcoholised or partially de-alcoholised still wine by means of second fermentation or the addition of carbon dioxide, as appropriate. This would enable the Union wine sector to benefit from new developments in consumer demand while maintaining its high quality production standards.

(22) The rules on the labelling of wine products should be amended in order to better inform the consumer of the characteristics of grapevine products with a reduced alcohol content, while retaining the obligation to provide information on the use of de-alcoholisation. Consumers are familiar with terms such as ‘0,0 %’ and ‘alcohol-free’. However, such terms are regulated differently in different Member States. The terms referring to a reduced alcohol content should comply with the Union rules for labelling the reduced content of certain substances. It is therefore necessary to harmonise the use of these terms across the Union, thereby enabling the wine sector to benefit from new consumer demands while ensuring the functioning of the internal market.

(23) Complying with the Union requirement to include the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration on the labels of exported wine can be burdensome for exporters, especially where the labelling requirements of the importing third countries differ from those of the Union. To facilitate exports in such cases, it is appropriate to exempt the wine to be exported from those Union labelling requirements.

(24) Providing the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration of wine products by electronic means is an effective way for operators to present important information to consumers, while facilitating the functioning of the internal market and wine exports. This is particularly the case for small producers. However, the absence of harmonised rules on the identification, on the package or on a label attached to it, of the electronic means providing the list of ingredients and/or the nutrition declaration, has resulted in the emergence of diverging practices by operators and of different rules by national authorities, adversely affecting the proper marketing of wines. In order to minimise costs and the administrative burden for operators, and to ensure a common approach across the Union market, while taking into account the need to make such information accessible to consumers, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in cooperation with Member States, to supplement Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by laying down rules on the identification on the package or on the label attached thereto of the electronic means providing consumers with the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration in a harmonised way, including through a language-free system.

(25) To reduce the burden on operators, and the uncertainty that they face, it is appropriate to clarify that compulsory particulars should be required to be displayed on any given packaging only once.

(26) In order to ensure that the form and layout of the electronic means is able to meet new needs arising from the fast and constant progress of digitalisation and to enable those electronic means to include other relevant information for consumers required by Union or national law and allowed to be presented electronically, thereby reducing the administrative burden on operators, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts to supplement Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by laying down rules on the presentation of information on electronic labels.

(27) Experience has shown that when a term referring to a holding in the wine sector has been reserved at Union level, and is subject to certain conditions, its use in trademarks or commercial names can be misleading for consumers. Therefore, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts to supplement Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 by laying down rules on the relationship between terms referring to a holding and trademarks and commercial names.

(28) Member States have the possibility to adopt marketing rules to regulate the supply in the wine sector to improve and stabilise the operation of the common wine market. In the current context of the structural decrease in consumption and recurrent situations of oversupply in certain regions and market segments, it is appropriate to clarify that such rules can include the setting of maximum grape yields and the management of wine stocks. Moreover, producer groups managing protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, as well as recognised producer organisations, can play an important role in adapting supply to market trends and in strengthening the position of winegrowers in the supply chain. Therefore, Member States should also be able to adopt marketing rules in the wine sector, taking into account proposals adopted by recognised interbranch organisations, by producer groups managing protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications or by recognised producer organisations when they are representative in the concerned production area or areas.