Not really sure where to post this, but I've been doing a lot of research into this in the last while with a view to forming policy for other organisations.
Firstly the EU defines “Independent small breweries” as those producing less than 200khl, and the associated legislation is where all the rules around microbrewing viz a viz duty rebates etc in the EU come from. As such the EU limits the maximum output under which a rebate can be in place as 200khl. Several countries including but probably not limited to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Rep, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Romania, and Luxembourg offer rebates up to 200khl.
In an Ireland/EU context the 30khl is one of the smaller limits in the EU, and in an all island context it's the lower of the two limits on the island. In NI there is a sliding scale in operation, but the rebates cease at 60khl. So when forming an all Ireland policy based on output alone, 30khl is inadequate as it doesn't cover northern breweries.
30khl, like the 20khl before it, is likely to be moving target, but the figure it will continue to move towards is 200khl in the long term. At least one political party has committed to raising the limit to 200khl (they need to get elected of course!) and national organisations will probably adopt it too.
My 2c. It's been interesting reading.
