Irish wine hike could face Euro challenge

The European courts could challenge a 20.2% hike on excise duty on wine unveiled in last week's controversial Irish budget, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has warned.

The Republic's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, announced the 50 cent rise in the price of a bottle of wine last Tuesday.

But there were no excise increases on the excise of beer cider and spirits sparking fury in the wine industry.

The WSTA has indicated that it will be closely tracking the European Union response to the Irish government¹s announcements.

The body has also raised its concerns with the UK Treasury.

The last time that wine was hit by an excise duty hike in Ireland was in 1994.

European Courts can intervene when countries whose excise duty discriminates against single products. That happened when the UK made a similar move in 1983.

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland [DIGI] expressed disappointment at the decision to increase excise duty on wine saying that Ireland already imposes the highest excise duties on alcohol within the EU, making wine considerably more expensive than in other countries.

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