Brussels, 09/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - Milk producers believe the measures announced by the European Commission and discussed at the Agriculture Council on Monday 7 September (see EUROPE 11383) “are a sham”, according to the European Milk Board (EMB), whose members took part in the demonstration.
For the EMB, the reasons underlying the dairy market crisis are structural. “Farmers from all over Europe did not take to the streets for subsidies, but for a crisis-management instrument, to solve the root cause of the problem - overproduction in the European market”, said its executive committee.
“Dairy farmers feel like they are being confronted by delaying tactics and will continue with protests”, states an EMB press release. The organisation calls on the EU to put in place the “market responsibility programme” it has developed. In times of crisis, temporary measures to stabilise milk prices, such as voluntary cuts in production, would be activated, to attack the root of the problem.
René Souchon (PES, France), the Committee of the Regions rapporteur on the dairy sector and president of the Auvergne region, regrets that the Commission waited until the dairy situation had deteriorated to the extent it has before announcing crisis measures “which will not address the structural problems of the deregulated dairy sector”. In its opinion in April 2015, the Committee of the Regions called on the Commission to put in place measures to protect farmers' incomes and, in particular, to look closely at the EMB's market responsibility programme. Souchon says that the Commission would not yet appear to have got the measure of the problem since it is proposing only “one-off aid which will not resolve the situation in the medium- and long-term”.
On 7 September, the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) demonstrated alongside the EMB to call for measures to manage production, the only way, it argues, to return to fair prices for milk. Via Campesina says that the measures announced (direct aid, increase in private storage capacity and promotion of products for export) appear derisory, and even cynical, when milk should be provided to migrants.
Condemnation of violence. More than 6,000 farmers and 2,000 tractors took part in demonstrations in Brussels on Monday 7 September. Copa-Cogeca says in a press release that it regrets the violence that flared, violence “which was not caused by Copa and Cogeca or our members”. According to Copa-Cogeca, “this was not necessary and painted a bad and unfair picture of farmers and agri-cooperatives who do their best to supply the nations with quality, safe food”. Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen saw progress on the measures, after the Council of 7 September. He was happy that ministers had “agreed to look at increasing the EU milk intervention price to help put a floor in the market”. Setting up a high-level group to look at the future of the EU dairy sector and reflecting on instruments to counter the growing volatility on the agricultural markets are also welcome steps in his view. He was disappointed, however, that there is no talk of export credit insurance for the EU beef, pork and milk markets. (Lionel Changeur)