Brussels, 19/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 November, the European Commission confirmed its intention to adopt a support programme worth €28 million for milk producers from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). This new package will be the latest in a series adopted by the European Commission in response to the Russian ban on the import of certain EU agricultural products.
The Commission explained that the amount of support being provided to each of the three countries is €6.9m for Estonia, €7.7m for Latvia and €14.1m for Lithuania, “based on their respective 2013/2014 milk production levels within national quotas”.
Finland appears to have been left out of the mechanism, although it is one of the countries most affected by the Russian embargo. The Commission has not forgotten Finland but has not yet included it in the mechanism applied to the milk producing countries most affected by the Russian embargo. The criteria for deciding which countries benefit from this compensation are as follows: more than 15% of milk product exports sent to Russia before the embargo (which is the case for Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland); a sharp fall in milk prices since the embargo (this sharp fall in prices was observed in August in Baltic countries but not in Finland). The main Finnish cooperative is reported to have initially absorbed the fall in prices without passing them on to producers. The Commission explained that it is awaiting data from Finland on prices in September, before possibly including farmers from this country in the aid mechanism. Different sources also suggest that pressure is being exerted to ensure that Finland does not obtain aid, so that a Danish company is able to buy up the Finnish milk sector…
European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan stated that he was very aware of the “significant impact” that the Russian embargo has had on milk producers in the three Baltic countries, “given their exposure to the Russian market and the drop in prices. The Commission intends to provide support in the form of a financial envelope for each of the three countries which will support those dairy farmers which, as a result of the Russian ban, are encountering liquidity problems in exceptional circumstances”.
A delegated regulation adopted by the Commission will set out the mechanism of targeted aid. EU experts will be consulted on the measure on 20 November and the Commission will adopt the measure shortly afterwards. (LC)