France's government on Wednesday stepped up financial support for wine growers faced with a steep drop in demand after coronavirus lockdowns closed restaurants and bars and crippling US tariffs curbed exports.
"The state will increase to €250 million its support plan to wine growing and we will request this aid to be distributed as quickly as possible because cash needs are pressing," French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Wednesday.
Castex made the announcement during a visit to the Menetou-Salon and Sancerre vineyards in the famed Loire Valley.
"The international situation, the health crisis, a drop in exports: our wine sector faces major difficulties. State support must continue and intensify," Castex said on Twitter earlier.
France has already provided some support, but the wine industry has called for more action.
In May, France cleared a €140-million crisis mechanism to distil surplus wine into industrial alcohol to be used to produce hand sanitisers.
Then in June, the government unveiled an additional €30 million of support for the wine industry, half of that to support the launch of a private storage scheme for two million hectolitres of surplus wine.
In addition to the impact of Covid-19, France's wine industry has suffered from US tariffs on imports imposed as part of the trade dispute between the European Union and the United States over aircraft subsidies.
In April, the European Commission decided to support crisis management measures in wine and other agriculture sectors affected by the coronavirus crisis.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)
