Brussels, 19/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - During the Agriculture Council on Tuesday 17 May in Brussels around 20 countries (including France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal and Ireland) welcomed the work undertaken by the senior expert level group on pig meat.
The European Commission announced several measures to support the sector (a provision that would help to better predict crises, improvements to the promotion and power of producers in this sector, and enhanced market regulation instruments).
Close to 10 countries (especially France, Poland, Belgium, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Greece and Portugal) underlined the need to take measures for fighting against price volatility. Several European agriculture ministers (France, Poland, Finland, Austria and Spain) called for market instruments (storage and export refunds etc) to be improved as part of the market instruments modernisation and improvement exercise. Some countries, such as Belgium, Greece and Lithuania, called for solutions to be found which would enable animal proteins to be used in pig feed.
Several delegations, including Denmark and the Netherlands, underlined the important role played by innovation in the modernisation and competitiveness of the sector. Malta and Greece said that promotion measures are a useful tool for the pig meat sector.
The Commission submitted a summary report to the Council from the enlarged advisory group on pig meat. This group undertook to assess measures planned as part of the CAP reform in order to ensure long-term viability for this sector.
What was the result achieved by this group? The European commissioner for agriculture, Dacian Cioloº, explained that “obviously, there is no magic wand to ensure the economic sustainability of farms and the overall competitiveness of the sector”. Nonetheless, the Commission is planning a raft of measures to improve this sector. First of all, the Commission underlines the necessity of improving competitiveness through innovation and the development of quality production. It also advises that “structural adjustments are necessary” and should be continued, and that this sector should be further integrated.
Action by member states. Cioloº called on EU countries during implementation of the post-2013 common agricultural policy (CAP): to use the measures contained in the rural development programmes (sustainable investment, innovation, risk and crisis prevention and anticipation); - to make full use of pig meat promotion campaigns (in July, the Commission will publish a Green Paper on reviewing Community policy promoting agricultural products); -to get rid of abusive practices in trade relations.
EU-level action. As part of the proposals for reforming the CAP, the Commission is planning to maintain market management instruments (implementation of private storage last February had a positive effect on the market). It is also expected to propose the creation of risk management instruments, which are “flexible and efficient”. According to the Commission it is also necessary to improve the way in which the food chain operates and strengthen producers' negotiating powers. DG SANCO at the Commission is examining the request of sector professionals to use animal proteins in non-ruminant feed. Cioloº has called on his staff to work in two directions as part of this CAP reform: (1) to analyse in real-time, economic developments affecting the agricultural sector, through income and margins; (2) to adjust market management tools to this development, in addition to crisis prevention instruments, which require the active participation of sector professionals.
Demand from COPA-COGECA. The European farmers and cooperative associations (COPA-COGECA) have called for “rapid and effective measures to help farmers face the extreme volatility on the futures markets”. They also said: “We want farmers' positioning in the EU food chain to be strengthened so that they get a better return for their products.”
COPA-COGECA is also advocating facilitating livestock producers access to intervention and the development of an EU protein plan. According to COPA-COGECA, “the ban on processed animal proteins for non-ruminants must also be lifted immediately”. (L.C./transl.fl)