Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
PALERMO / MARSALA – A package of immediate measures to tackle the severe economic crisis in Sicily’s wine sector, with particular focus on the Trapani area. This is the stance taken by Stefano Pellegrino, group leader of Forza Italia at the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS), following a detailed meeting with representatives of agricultural organisations and the island’s cooperative wineries.
Central to the regional MP’s proposals is the need to guarantee direct income support for farmers and extraordinary measures to clear the surplus production stored in wineries.
Income support: €19 million in the new Stability Law
Pellegrino said the priority is to overcome the time constraints of recent budget measures and secure funds that can be spent within a clear timeframe:
“The way forward is a one-off direct payment to producers, proportionate to the cultivated area. That is why I have asked for the €19 million intervention for cooperative wineries, which I had already requested from the government, to be transferred into the next Stability Law.
Under a budget variation, the funds had to be committed by the end of 2026, leaving just one month for calls for applications and bureaucratic procedures. In the financial manoeuvre, however, we will have operational timeframes and adequate coverage to direct resources towards the income of winegrowers.”
— Stefano Pellegrino, group leader of Forza Italia at the ARS
Crisis distillation and recapitalisation of cooperatives
As well as direct financial support, the proposals on the table address the structural problem of surpluses and the market freeze:
- Crisis distillation: an essential measure to reduce wine stocks (starting with those from 2025, which risk being added to by the current vintage), free up capacity in wine tanks and generate immediate liquidity to help wineries pay growers for delivered grapes.
- Recapitalisation of cooperative wineries: establishing fair criteria for strengthening the capital of cooperative structures, tying aid to concrete, measurable benefits for producer members.
Parliamentary efforts at the ARS will focus in the coming weeks, in close coordination with the government led by President Renato Schifani, on including the measures in the comprehensive legislative package and the regional Stability Law.
