The Minister of Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, said on Thursday that he was “aware” of the “disarray” and “economic difficulties” of winegrowers, assuring that the project to increase taxes on alcohol was still the subject of “discussions” with the Ministry of Health.
Faced with this possibility, mentioned for the next social security financing bill (PLFSS) which will be debated at the start of the school year, the minister said he wanted to send “a message of solidarity for winegrowers, particularly in Gironde”.
“I know the distress of many winegrowers, the smallest of them who are facing economic difficulties with, on top of that, a calamity, mildew”, said Thomas Cazenave during a trip to Talence (Gironde) devoted tobacconists affected during the urban riots at the start of the summer.
“I am well aware of the difficulties that the sector is going through”, added the minister, elected in 2022 deputy for the 1st district of Gironde. “Discussions are continuing with the Ministry of Health, we will have the opportunity to talk about it again in September. »
The subject is particularly hot for Bordeaux, the leading French AOC vineyard with 110,000 hectares, which is facing a serious crisis of overproduction and an intense episode of mildew. Victim of deconsumption, this wine region is the subject of a plan to help the uprooting of vines which could cover 9,250 hectares.
A few days before the reshuffle that allowed him to enter government, Thomas Cazenave had co-signed a letter with other parliamentarians to oppose “an excessive increase in taxes” which would jeopardize wine regions “already in crisis for some- some of them”.
He assured Thursday that he had “not changed his mind”. “I consider that today the sector is going through a serious crisis and that we need to be able to support it. It is up to us to look at the terms, to look at how we are going to build this response, ”he said.
The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, pleaded for his part to take into account the “signals of fragility” of the sector in an interview with the Vitisphere site on Wednesday.
In 2023, according to an inflation-indexed increase mechanism, the rates applied to “duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages” were raised by 1.6%, according to the Customs website.