spiritsEUROPE recently met with Commissioner Hansen, together with our French member FFS, to discuss our sector’s economic impact, trade challenges, and regulatory priorities. Contributing €60 billion in GVA to the EU economy, generating €47 billion in taxes, and supporting 1.2 million jobs, our sector is vital to Europe. Despite global economic challenges, EU spirits exports to third countries remained strong at nearly €9 billion in 2024.
We welcomed the EU Vision for Agriculture & Food, particularly its recognition of the link between agricultural production, rural economic growth, and international trade. Two-thirds of our exports are protected by geographical indications (GIs), making promotional policies and high-level trade missions, such as the upcoming visit to Japan, crucial to our success.
We also welcomed the emphasis on agricultural and food sector competitiveness and the recognition that regulatory simplification is key to supporting it. We expressed support for the Vision’s focus on preserving the integrity of the single market and limiting gold-plating by member states. Additionally, we stressed that recognizing the potential of digital technologies in the food sector is another positive element, particularly in light of our sector’s commitments to digital labeling and the broad benefits digital consumer information can provide.
Last but not least, we welcomed the acknowledgment that agri-food is often caught in geopolitical tensions and the commitment to better shield it from such disruptions. We expressed particular concerns about the impact of geopolitical tensions on our two largest markets—the United States and China—which together, when considering both direct and indirect exports, account for nearly 50% of EU spirits exports. Trade tensions, which are a major concern for our sector, featured high in the conversation. We urged the EU to prevent new tariffs on spirits, particularly in the US, where our exports totalled almost €3 billion in 2024. Preserving tariff-free transatlantic trade in spirits is critical, and we called for the exclusion of US whiskey from the list of potential EU rebalancing tariffs in response to US steel & aluminium tariffs. We also raised concerns about anti-dumping duties and export restrictions in place in China as a result of the ongoing anti-dumping investigation into EU wine-based and marc-based spirits, requesting urgent EU intervention ahead of Commissioner Šefčovič’s mission.
We also highlighted the potential of digital labelling to provide multilingual, geo-localized consumer information efficiently, building on the successful adoption of voluntary consumer information provisions for spirits drinks. Today, over 70% of spirits bottles in Europe already feature energy information on the labels, with QR codes and other electronic means allowing consumers to see the full nutritional information & ingredients listing online. We also stressed the potential of digital labelling for other applications, such as the provision of information on sorting & recycling requirements for empty packages to consumers.
We wish to thank Commissioner Hansen for his readiness to engage with us. We look forward to continuing this conversation in the near future, in light of all the challenges facing our sector.
