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The Comité Champagne
About us
The efficiency of any organisation depends on the legal and financial resources at its disposal.
Legal and financial resources
The efficiency of any organisation depends on the legal and financial resources at its disposal.
Legal resources
Under Article 9 of the Law of 12 April 1941, the Comité Champagne is entitled to enact ‘general measures’ and make decisions ‘that are binding for all stakeholders’. These decisions take the form of regulations, which are then communicated via the appropriate channels (person-to-person, via press publication or via public posting).
The Law provides a broad framework for regulation. There are eight paragraphs that specify the general scope of the Comité Champagne’s remit, in line with government directives:
1 – To monitor supply and demand and require the submission of whatever economic records may be needed in pursuance of this objective.
2 – To improve the organisation of production so that the marketing of products may be coordinated.
3 – To manage and regulate relationships between the different stakeholder groups, most notably via standard contracts for the sale and purchase of grapes, wine must and wines.
4 – To improve market efficiency by ruling on the percentage of wines that must be kept in reserve/and or the staged release of Champagne wine production.
5 – To improve the quality and traceability of grapes, wine must and wines.
6 – To promote sustainable winegrowing practices, environmental protection and a rational approach to vineyard development.
7 – To issue membership cards.
8 – To undertake outreach, communication and promotional activities to protect and defend the AOC wines of the official Champagne wine region.
The wording of these provisions is deliberately broad, to give breadth to the Comité’s remit.
Financial Resources
The Comité Champagne is authorized to levy direct subscriptions from its members to cover administrative costs and to ‘pursue stakeholder interests’.
Subscriptions are raised:
- On the quantity of grapes harvested (the burden of dues being shared by growers and the Champagne Houses that acquire the grapes)
- On shipments of bottles of Champagne.
Annual receipts and payments are approximately 19 million euros. As a rough guide, one third of the Comité’s financial resources is spent on R & D, another third on communication, reputation building and protection of the Champagne AOC, and the remaining third on general operating expenses.
Interprofession
Champagne houses
Interprofession
Champagne Growers