Wine regions oppose ‘catastrophic’ EU expansion plans (EU)

European wine growing regions are battling European Commission plans to allow massive vineyard expansion. To boost the wine sector’s competitiveness by reducing production costs, the EU has included an amendment to liberalise planting rights, from January 2016, within proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – a policy which one lobbyist said would have ‘catastrophic’ consequences. If the reform goes through, by 2019 there will be no restrictions to planting vines across the European Union, even in countries that today have no vineyards, reports Decanter.