Regulation increases funding amounts for viticulture businesses and creates new eligible funding items

The Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, Norbert Totschnig, has reset the funding amounts for investments in viticulture operations. The regulation BGBl. II No. 309/2026, published in the Federal Law Gazette on October 22, 2026, amends the CAP Strategic Plan Application Regulation and raises the maximum eligible investment amounts to up to 335,000 euros per applicant. At the same time, new eligible items such as ozone cleaning devices and tartrate stabilization systems are being introduced.

The legal basis for the regulation is §§ 6 Para. 1, 2 and 4, 6e, 8f, 8g and 18a of the Market Organization Act 2021 (MOG 2021), BGBl. I No. 55/2007, last amended by BGBl. I No. 77/2022 and the Federal Ministries Act Amendment 2025, BGBl. I No. 10/2025. The GSP-AV, BGBl. II No. 403/2022, last amended by Regulation BGBl. II No. 1/2026, is being amended. The new provisions enter into force on the day following the announcement, i.e., on October 23, 2026; the investment provisions for viticulture are to be applied to funding applications submitted from August 1, 2026.

Higher Upper Limits per Applicant

The regulation resets the maximum eligible investment amounts over the funding period. For investments according to § 215 and § 219, the upper limit is 335,000 euros per applicant in each case. The remaining maximum amounts are:

• 225,000 euros for storage tanks made of metal or wood (§ 222)
• 150,000 euros for the eligible items according to § 220 and § 221
• 110,000 euros for the eligible items according to § 216, § 217 and § 223
• 65,000 euros for the eligible item according to § 218

In the case of storage tanks, closed containers or always-full tanks with cooling jackets or cooling plates are eligible; wooden containers must have a capacity of at least 1,000 liters. Additional equipment such as inlet and outlet pipes, walkways, and railings are not eligible, whereas the retrofitting of existing tanks with cooling is.

New Eligible Items and Funding Rates

Two additional eligible items are being regulated for the first time. Funding is provided for the new acquisition of devices for cleaning cellar equipment that produce and use ozonized water for disinfection, with an upper limit of 25,000 euros per applicant. For tartrate stabilization, ion exchangers are eligible for up to 60,000 euros and electrodialysis devices for up to 250,000 euros. Installation and additional equipment as well as supply lines remain excluded in both cases.

The funding rate is now 30 percent of the eligible investment costs for investments according to § 219 and § 222, 35 percent for those according to § 217 and § 218, and 40 percent for those according to § 215, § 216, § 220, § 221, § 223, § 223a, and § 223b. For vineyard conversion, flat rates of 5,550 euros per hectare in the plains, 8,800 euros on slopes, and 14,540 euros on steep slopes apply; embankment terraces are funded at 9.70 euros per linear meter, and wall terraces at 105 euros per square meter.

Doubling for Large Farms and Associations

For funding applicants whose stock notification shows a marketed wine quantity of more than 500,000 liters, the maximum amounts specified in §§ 215 to 218 and 220 to 223b are doubled; for the funding object according to § 219, the maximum funding amount is 500,000 euros per applicant. In the future, viticulture associations, viticulture federations, as well as communities and companies organized within a machinery ring, are also eligible to apply for certain funding objects, even if they neither produce nor market wine; for them, the upper limits are also doubled.

Cut-off Date Regulation for Grassland Conversion and Discontinued Measures

With the new § 26a, a cut-off date regulation is introduced: areas that were classified as arable land on January 1, 2026, will continue to be arable land from the application year 2027, even if the seven-year period of § 26 Para. 1 has expired and no crop rotation measure or reseeding has occurred. Arable land includes all areas so classified in the 2025 multiple application, plus the wintering applied for in the application year 2026; applicants may decide not to apply the cut-off date regulation in the application year 2027 up until the time specified in § 33 Para. 2 Item 2.

Four listings are deleted from Annex 1, meaning these funding measures in rural areas are discontinued:

• 73-07 – Investments in aquatic ecological improvement
• 73-13 – Implementation of climate and energy projects at the local level
• 73-17 – Support for investments in the course of business transfers in rural areas
• 75-02 – Support for the establishment and development of innovative small enterprises with added value

Additionally, GLÖZ standards 6 and 7 in Annex 2 are reformulated, and for organic farms certified according to Regulation (EU) 2018/848, GLÖZ standards 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are considered fulfilled starting from the application year 2026.

For viticulture farms, the amendment means a noticeable expansion of the eligible investment volume and an extension of the funding range to cellar technology, which was previously not eligible for funding. Those investing in pressing technology, storage capacity, or tartrate stabilization can submit applications for projects submitted from August 1, 2026, based on the new upper limits and funding rates.

Source: Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria, Part II, No. 309 of October 22, 2026, Ordinance: Amendment to the CAP Strategic Plan Application Ordinance (official reference: BGBl. II No. 309/2026).