The French government appears to be considering doing the unthinkable and raising taxes on alcohol, a move which is being strongly opposed by the country’s wine industry.
The government is considering a rise which would put €0.05 on the price of a bottle in a bid to make up a €10 billion deficit in social security funding.
The move has provoked a vehement reaction from France’s wine lobby who have mobilised some political heavyweights to speak out against the proposed tax hike.
Alain Juppe, former prime minister and mayor of Bordeaux and a powerful player on the right of current prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s UMP party, met with senior figures from the wine industry and has come out against the proposed tax rise.
“At a time when we are witnessing a drop in consumption worldwide of wine, including in France, and when many winemakers are in difficulty, it is not the moment to invent a new tax or to increase an old one,” Juppe said.
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