Brussels, 24/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - COPA (the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the EU) and COGECA (the General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives in the EU) have called for urgent measures to boost EU sheep meat production under the new common agricultural policy (CAP). The organisations warn that EU production and imports are declining and “without action there will be a further exodus from the EU rural areas”.
Emmanuel Coste of COPA-COGECA said that EU production is continuing to drop and imports to the EU decreased by 11% in 2010 compared with 2007. “Furthermore, this downward trend is expected to continue in 2011”, he added, going on: “Even though prices are quite good and are expected to remain positive, production costs have been rising rapidly, which is squeezing producers hard”. Given that the demand for sheepmeat is increasing in other parts of the world, and production is low, “the EU must maintain a productive sheepmeat sector in order to offer adequate supplies for consumers”, he said.
COPA-COGECA Secretary General Pekka Pesonen called on the European Commission to ensure that there are enough measures in the new CAP to “stimulate production and consumption and encourage young farmers to enter the sector”. Promotional action is needed to boost consumption of this high quality product, he said. Sheepmeat production “boosts the economies of the EU's rural areas and helps to maintain biodiversity”, he argued. (L.C./transl.rt)