Higher grape prices and land availability drive interest in new vineyard plantings in Northern Greece

On January 1, 2016, the European Union introduced the Planting Permits regime, replacing the older Planting Rights system. This new regime aims to better regulate the expansion of vineyard areas by limiting the annual growth of existing vineyard areas in each Member State to a maximum of 1%. Unlike the previous system, where Planting Rights could be traded freely, the Planting Permits regime seeks to manage vineyard area growth more effectively across the EU.