Between Paris and Brussels, the government is trying to alleviate the exasperation of farmers, which is not weakening, almost a week after the announcements by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who proposed a first set of measures on Friday January 26 . Latest project launched: Wednesday January 31, the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, proposed a range of aid for viticulture in the south of France, in great difficulty.
Initially, Mr. Fesneau was to go to Montpellier on Friday February 2 to unveil a new support plan for the sector. The host of Rue de Varenne finally presented it hurriedly, forty-eight hours in advance. Without forgetting to match it with an envelope totaling 230 million euros. The mobilizations of farmers on the national territory, wishing to put pressure on the government, have disrupted the calendar. The wine protest, fueled by the fall in wine prices, however, eased after the fire in the building of the Mutualité sociale agricole in Narbonne (Aude), Friday January 26. The Aude Winegrowers’ Union, in conjunction with the local Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions, has muted.
The challenge of this plan, developed with the sector, is twofold. Firstly, respond to the impact of recent climatic and economic hazards, then, in a more structural way, deal with the crisis of overproduction of red wine which primarily affects the Occitan vineyards, but also the vineyards of Bordeaux and Provence. Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA).
Overproduction
Initially, an emergency fund of 80 million euros, intended to relieve the cash flow of the most fragile wine companies, will be released. In fact, following the first protests in November 2023, aid of 20 million euros was granted. This amount is increased to 80 million euros and access to the envelope expanded. Applicants will have an open counter in the prefectures of the departments affected by the wine crisis, from February 5. A sign of the desire to provide responses to demands as quickly as possible. As Gabriel Attal committed to, on January 26, by presenting the first emergency measures for cattle breeders affected by epizootic hemorrhagic disease, for Breton farmers affected by the storm or for the organic sector.
“ Wine growers who have been affected by drought or mildew will be able to request emergency aid, as well as those who wish to benefit from a white year in 2024, that is to say who request the postponement of the repayment of their one-year loan, with interest paid by the State”, explains Jean-Marie Fabre, president of Independent Winegrowers, based in Fitou (Aude). He emphasizes that many wine farms have been shaken since the Covid-19 crisis and their cash flow has been put under pressure. He has also campaigned tirelessly with Bercy so that the repayment deadlines for state-guaranteed loans (PGE), granted at the height of the health crisis, when the wine trade had almost dried up, be extended. Mr. Fesneau has rightly announced a system for transferring PGEs into loans subsidized by the State with longer maturities, which is now up to the banks to take advantage of.
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