Brussels, 01/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Five member states - Austria, Germany, Denmark, Poland and Cyprus - exceeded their milk quotas for deliveries in 2012/2013, and must therefore pay penalties (“superlevy”) totalling roughly € 46 million, according to figures published on Tuesday 1 October by the European Commission. In addition, the Netherlands overshot its direct sales quota by 1,100 tonnes (1.4%) in 2011/2012. Despite the overrun of the quotas in these member states, total EU deliveries remained well below (-6.0%) the total quota volumes, compared with -4.7% in 2011/2012 (see EUROPE 10713).
According to national declarations for the year ending 31 March 31 2013, Austria overshot its quota by 103,243 tonnes and is fined €28.7 million, Germany by 25,962 tonnes (a €7.2 million fine), Denmark by 18,478 tonnes (a €5.1 million fine), Poland by 14,775 tonnes (a €4.1 million fine) and Cyprus by 1,232 tonnes (a €343,000 fine). In total, the countries overshot their quotas by 163,700 tonnes, despite the 1% rise in quotas in 2012/2013 as part of the 2008 CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) healthcheck. The Netherlands overshot its quota for direct sales, but not for deliveries (unlike the previous year).
The number of member states exceeding their quotas remains limited and the concerned surplus production accounts for 0.1% of all milk delivered or covered by direct sales (0.2% in the previous milk quota year). The Commission points out that last year, Ireland paid a superlevy of more than €16 million. Some 22 member states remained under quota, thirteen of them more than 10% below their delivery quota. Milk production was at least 10% below quota in a number of countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Milk consumption was 7.4% below quota in France and 0.4% below in Italy. The dairy quota regime will be abolished on 1 April 2015, and the Commission will present a report by mid-2014 on the state of the market. (LC/transl.fl)