Brussels, 7 July 2017 – After carefully reviewing Pau Roca’s programme, the General Assembly of CEEV decided, during its 7th July meeting, to support the application of the current Secretary General of the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) to the position of Director General of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV).

The OIV is an intergovernmental organisation of scientific and technical nature recognized for its works on wine and other vine-based products. The current Director General of the OIV, Jean-Marie Aurand, will step down from his position in December 2018, after a 5-year mandate.

The Government of the Kingdom of Spain will officially present the candidature of Pau Roca to the OIV in November 2017.

“The activities and recommendations of the OIV are instrumental in securing the fair and trustful development of the global wine sector, and the role of its Director General is decisive”, said Jean-Marie Barillère, President of CEEV. “CEEV fully shares Pau Roca’s vision that the role of the OIV as a facilitator of international trade should be reinforced”, he added.

Secretary General of the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV) since 1992, Pau Roca has a long experience of dealing with the Spanish, European and international wine sector and has demonstrated and in-depth knowledge of the wine filière along the years, as well as an unwavering commitment towards the international wine sector. He currently holds the positions of Chairman of the CEEV "Common Market Organisation" Committee and Vice-president of the OIV "Sustainable development and climate change" working group.

“Pau Roca’s programme to improve the credibility and operational efficiency of the OIV is crucial to reasserting the OIV as the main international organisation in the field of wine” said Ignacio Sánchez Recarte, Secretary General of CEEV. “We also strongly support his intention to strengthen the involvement of the private sector”.

The CEEV General Assembly fully supports Pau Roca as a candidate for the election of the new Director General of OIV in July 2018, and welcomes his programme which is in line with the mission and objectives of CEEV.

--- END---

Note to Editors:

• Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV – www.ceev.eu) represents the wine companies in the industry and trade in the European Union: still wines, aromatised wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines and other vine products. It brings together 24 national organisations and its members produce and market the vast majority of quality European wines, with and without a geographical indication, and account for over 90% of European wine exports.
• With around €10,1 billion € worth of exports every year, the EU wine sector makes a contribution of almost €7,5 billion to the EU trade balance.