Quality, who's quality? : The impact of the EU's 2008 wine policy reform in France and in Spain

In 2008 the European Union (EU) adopted a reform of its wine policy that many commentators consider has radically altered the logic of public support for this sector. Instead of seeking to structure the supply of wine in Europe through plantation rights, distillation aids and strict rules on vinification processes, the reform was instead based on a logic which reasoned in terms of consumer demand for "quality wine", the reduction of rules and encouraging European wine merchants to access third country markets. As part of a wider collective research project on the EU's government of industries, this paper presents preliminary results about the political and economic impact of this EU reform. More specifically, a comparison will be undertaken between the way French and Spanish actors have adapted to the new set of EU rules. Overall, the paper shows that although national or regional culture certainly shapes the differing translations of EU rules that have occurred, its influence is indirect. Instead the main cleavages observed have been caused by the differentiated spreading of competing narratives by interest group leaders and independent 'experts' about how to attain quality and sustained competitivity within today's wine industry. Put in the language of this conference, our question is not what constitutes 'quality' wine, nor which regions or types of firm are best placed to produce it? Instead we have sought to discover both which actors were behind the reform and who is now taking most benefit from it? Convinced that the quality of any wine is socially and politically constructed, we therefore ask who's quality has been enhanced by this European reform