To date, 12 EU countries have registered their disagreement and formally asked the European Commission to reconsider an amendment to liberalise planting rights, from January 2016, within proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

If the reform goes through, by 2019 there will be no restrictions to planting vines across the EU, even in countries that today have no vineyards. The new plantings will be for DOK, IGT or table wine.

These 12 countries, however, do not currently form a majority of the 27 member states. Fourteen countries and 255 votes will be required for a majority.

The12 EU countries that have registered their disagreement and formally asked the European Commission to reconsider are Germany, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Other wine-producing countries such as Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia and Malta, and other consumer countries such as the UK are being asked to join the group.

The European Commission wants to allow this massive vineyard expansion in an effort to boost the wine sector’s competitiveness by reducing production costs.

But one winemaker from France said: ‘The idea of liberalisation could in theory lower the cost of wine, but already prices are low because of the global crisis, and most producers are struggling.

“The effect of this could be catastrophic,” he concluded.