Brussels, 14/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - EU agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels on 13 December held a first general discussion on European Commission proposals for amending competition law in order to give European milk producers more weight in negotiations with processors. Member states, with the exceptions of Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, welcomed the proposals (see EUROPE 10276). While German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner questioned the effectiveness of the mechanism proposed in the event of a crisis, Bruno Le Maire the French agriculture minister, spoke of “a real revolution for producers”. Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloº said that the measures were designed to allow producers to negotiate contracts, covering process, volumes and duration, collectively and freely with processors. Joint steps on research, promotion, improving production and processing methods, and quality could be taken by producers and processors through inter-branch organisations. This “will give the supply chain the opportunity to better plan production in relation to market demand”, Cioloº said.
Progress on limiting production volumes. The proposals provide for negotiations being conducted by the same producer organisation so long as the total amount of raw milk in the negotiations does not exceed 3.5% of total EU production or 33% of the total national production of the member state or states concerned. In France, “one third of milk producers” could join together collectively to negotiate prices, something that is impossible for them at the moment unless they join a cooperative, Le Maire said. This equates to 5 million tonnes of milk, or the entire production of Breton milk producers, he pointed out: “If they want, the 18,000 Breton dairy farmers could come together to negotiate prices collectively”. However, a number of small producer countries, in particular Portugal, Cyprus and Estonia, felt that the 33% ceiling was too low for their specific situation. Cioloº also informed ministers that, for when there was any serious imbalance, he intended to devise a system based on Article 186 of the single CMO (market disturbance clause), which would allow dairy producers voluntarily to reduce supplies in exchange for financial compensation. Hungary, which will hold the Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers during the next six months, hopes by June to be able to find a joint position of these measures which will run until 2020.
With regard to market transparency, the commissioner pledged that the Commission would analyse dairy markets more deeply. Regular meetings will be held between representatives of the industry and member states so that all stakeholders can be fully aware of market developments. There was still an imbalance and a fragility in the European dairy sector, warned Cioloº. The improvement in the situation of the dairy market had been sustained over the whole year, but he noted a slight downward trend in prices both in the EU and globally.
Quality policy plans challenged. Ministers gave a somewhat lukewarm welcome to the Commission's proposals for a quality policy. France and Italy regretted that the proposals did not give producer organisations for protected denominations and indications the possibility of “planning” production volumes in order to ensure quality and avoid market imbalances. These two member states also want to go further on indications of the origin, with milk as a priority. At the other end of the spectrum, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden felt that the proposed amendments to Community rules had one major disadvantage: they added further standards to be met, to the detriment of competitiveness. The Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden believed the planned arrangements for the relaunch of the traditional specialities guaranteed system were too limiting. And the lack of specific provisions for the term “produce of hill farming” was noted by France and Spain. The commissioner confirmed that, after an impact assessment, he would bring forward a proposal on this issue and also on direct sales of local produce.
Future of the CAP: defining “active farmers”. Following their first exchange of views at the end of November, EU agriculture ministers continued the debate on the European Commission communication on the CAP after 2013, concentrating on viable food production as a main priority for the future. The main issue broached was compensation for the most disadvantaged areas. Over lunch, ministers also discussed how to define “active farmers” on whom support can be concentrated. The discussion confirmed for Cioloº that the best way was “by process of elimination, deciding what is not active”. (L.C./transl.rt)