A group of MEPs calls for a declaration of a European Year of Wine Tourism

On 23 March, pursuant to Rule 116 of the Rules of Procedure, a group of five Members of the European Parliament [1] submitted a written declaration calling for a “European Year of Wine Tourism”.

If the declaration is signed by the majority of Parliament's component Members before the lapse date (7 May 2009), the declaration will be forwarded to the Council and the Commission, together with the names of the signatories. The written declaration reads as follows:

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission communication entitled 'Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism' (COM (2007) 621),

– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 479 of 29 April 2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine, which provides for, amongst other measures, the promotion of European wine,

A. whereas the wine industry is of primary economic importance to the European Union and the European Union represents approximately 70% of the global wine market,

B. whereas the wine industry is undergoing a qualitative transformation from a business point of view, experimenting with a move from the field of nutritional necessity to 'cultural' opportunity,

C. whereas there is a definite and deep-rooted connection between vines and the regions in which they are grown,

D. whereas food and wine tourism has grown remarkably over the last few years, bringing almost twenty million people to Europe,

E. whereas the Common Agricultural Policy is leaning increasingly towards the promotion and protection of the countryside by the modulation of funds from the first to the second pillar. Calls for the declaration of a European Year of Wine Tourism.

[1] The MEPs that have submitted the writen declaration are Monica Giuntini, Vincenzo Lavarra, Costas Botopoulos, Jamila Madeira, Jean-Paul Denanot