Brussels, 30/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The first meeting of the European Milk Market Observatory, which brings together the players in the sector - COPA-COGECA (farmers and cooperatives), CEJA (Young farmers), Via Campesina, European Milk Board, Eucolait (trade), EDA (industry) and Euro Commerce (distribution) - was held in Brussels on Tuesday 27 May.
With milk production quotas due to be phased out by 31 March 2015, this Observatory, which was officially launched on 16 April, aims to achieve greater transparency in the dairy market and to supply more accurate data to allow the supply chain and the European Commission to take quick and well-informed decisions. An initial debate was held as to whether the Commission should be able to publish data on margins and, if so, whether these should be only the producers' margins or also those of other links in the chain. This debate will be continued at the next meeting, to be held on 24 July. The European Commission anticipates a 2.8% increase in milk production in 2013-14 and an increase of more than 2% in 2014-2015. (LC)