Brussels, 16/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a press conference on the sidelines of 'International Green Week' in Berlin on Thursday 15 January, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, was not giving much away about the changes to be made to the common agriculture policy (CAP). He also stressed the need for producers affected by the Russian ban on agri-food products to find new outlets, even if this will take time.
Phil Hogan, who is attending a summit of agriculture ministers in Berlin on Saturday 7 January (with more than 70 ministers), told the press, on the subject of CAP reform, that he did not want to say too much about the additional changes which could be made over the coming years, as he feels that farmers should be given “stability” and allowed to apply the new reform which has just entered into force (1 January 2015 for the new system of direct aid and greening).
As he has been requested to do by President Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commissioner will establish a kind of roadmap on the simplification of the CAP for October 2015. However, “we will have to see how the reform works in practice before considering making any changes to it”.
He also referred to new guidelines on joint sales (see EUROPE 11231). He believes that these new guidelines represent a “step forward” by giving real powers to small producers within the food chain.
On the Russian embargo, he acknowledged that it will take time to find alternative markets. Having emphasised the aid which has been made available (support to milk producers from Finland and the Baltic countries, etc), he said that the Commission would continue to follow the market closely and act by taking further measures if required, although the CAP budget is tighter than ever.
The situation on the milk market is tense due to the Russian ban and the increase in production in certain regions (following high prices in 2014 and in anticipation of the end of milk quotas in April 2015), Phil Hogan explained. “Many players in the sector have been looking forward to the end of quotas for many years. However, the end of quotas also means that the sector has to learn to read market signals”, the Commissioner said. The creation of the milk market observatory is a move aiming to improve the transparency of the market, and current figures show that prices are down compared to the high levels seen in 2014, he concluded. (LC)