Brussels, 27/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - During a Council debate on the situation on the agricultural markets on Monday 26 January, Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan refused, largely for budgetary reasons, to agree to the call from a number of countries for further aid for diary, pork meat and fruit and vegetable producers. He merely proposed to extend aid to private storage for butter and skimmed milk powder and is refusing to hear tell of a severe crisis on the milk and dairy products sector.
Milk. Several countries called for measures to help milk producers. Italy suggested a system that would see super-levy payments (a fine in the event of milk quotas being exceeded) being spread, interest-free, over a number of years. Poland, along with Slovenia, Luxembourg and Ireland, gave support to the Italian suggestion. Romania and Bulgaria called for a temporary exceptional support measure to be put in place to compensate for loss of revenue and to re-introduce the export refund scheme for cheese. Spain called for an extension of private storage aid.
Hogan stated that the Commission will ensure the safety net remains fully available to support the market where necessary. With public intervention open until the end of September 2015, Hogan proposed keeping private storage aid for butter and skimmed milk powder (due to finish at the end of February) in place until the end of September, too. The Commission noted that the average price of milk in the EU was still 34 cents per litre (November 2014, last available information), a “reasonable” level if one considers the record prices of the last two years and the fall in the cost of animal feed.
Hogan underlined the need to improve monitoring of the European milk sector and called on the member states to abide by the rules and supply information on time to be able to respond if a problem developed. “Prices are holding up reasonably well. There is no real crisis”, he said.
Pig meat. Denmark, France and Belgium (with the support of Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and Ireland, among others) called for aid for pig producers (private storage aid). Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden opposed any such move.
Hogan told ministers that, in his view, “opening private storage aid for pig meat would not significantly change the expected market developments”. On the contrary, he said, it has the potential to “undermine the ongoing evolution in the sector in order to find a new balance between supply and demand which could negatively affect market prices next summer”. He stated that he did not consider that any intervention measure was justified in this sector in the current situation.
At the press conference, the commissioner was a bit more open to the possibility of aid. He acknowledged that there were problems with pig meat prices. However, other markets, such as the Philippines and South Korea, have been found for 77% of the market shares that used to go to Russia, he pointed out. Progress was being made on new outlets, he said, but the prices paid to producers, particularly in Denmark, Belgium and Romania, are falling. The Commission had to consider what it could do, with perhaps supplementary measures to bring supply and demand into line on the markets, he stated.
Fruits and vegetables. Italy in particular felt that the list of products covered by the aid for perishable fruits and vegetables should be extended. This aid is due to expire in June of this year. Romania and Bulgaria expressed the view that the measures were insufficient, pointing out that they are indirectly affected by the Russian embargo, as they are unable to sell their own fruits. Belgium highlighted price falls. France called for greater flexibility. Greece, Spain and Cyprus also called for additional measures.
“When these measures expire next June, it will mean that, since the start of the export ban, a whole marketing season of export volume to Russia will have been covered. Such a long period should be sufficient to enable most of the fruits and vegetables producers concerned to adapt themselves to the new situation”, said the commissioner.
Sugar. Italy called for a “soft landing” in this sector (that is to say, certain measures), with quotas due to expire in 2017. Italy was backed by a number of countries: Romania, Belgium, Slovakia, Finland, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Slovenia. Other countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Portugal, were against any new measure.
Hogan pointed out that the ending of quotas could not have come as a surprise and that reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) had delayed the date for the end of quotas by two years. He indicated, too, that €5.4 billion had been spent on restructuring the sector. He announced that an expert group was being set up to assess the problems that could arise between now and 2017, when quotas will be ended.
The Commission acknowledged that prices have decreased considerably in the past months. Hogan noted, however, that EU sugar prices had been at record levels for the previous two years, with a peak of €738 per tonne in early 2013 (as compared to a world price of under €400 per tonne). (LC)