Brussels, 23/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Dairy farmers from all over Europe will be demonstrating before the federal chancellery in Berlin on 3 and 4 June 2013, with their tractors and spectacular events. Their aim is to put pressure on the German government so that the voluntary reduction in production, as a crisis instrument in the dairy sector, is not abandoned.
The measure is currently being discussed within the framework of talks between the European Parliament, the member states and the Commission on reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP). According to the European Milk Board (EMB), which is at the origin of the demonstration, through the voluntary reduction of production, milk producers are rewarded for their market compliant behaviour. The measure also allows crisis situations to be avoided and for public funding to be saved.
Since 2009, prices paid to producers no longer cover the costs of milk production, the EMB points out. New crisis instruments for the milk market, such as the voluntary reduction of production, may partly remedy the situation. It is unacceptable, EMB bemoans, for the German government to continue blocking all reasonable initiatives in this context. (LC/transl.jl)