Brussels, 16/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 November, the EMB (European Milk Board) once again appealed to European Agriculture Ministers to introduce measures to reduce milk production.
Sieta van Keimpema, EMB vice-president, spoke about the “enormous problems” encountered by milk producers in the EU and the fact that the private storage measures taken by the Commission “have not improved our situation or our prices”. She said that the situation on the market was getting worse: production is continuing to increase but not demand. She also highlighted again the action taken on 12 November in 11 countries “to protest against the Commission, which has done nothing to help farmers” despite the fact that Article 39 of the Treaty stipulates that the goal of the Common Agricultural Policy is to ensure a fair living conditions for farmers and stabilise the markets.
Kjartan Poulsen, also from the EMB, said that milk prices in Europe were “still falling”. The price of milk in Germany had fallen to 25 cents a litre, and in Denmark it now stood at 28 cents. He emphasised the fact that EU prices were between 25 and 30 cents, with prices slightly higher, for example, in Italy but much less in Eastern European countries (in Lithuania, small farmers earn 10 cents!). Poulsen also said that production costs in the EU were between 40 and 45 cents a litre of milk.
He believes that it is necessary to produce on the basis of demand. European production has increased by 2.8% in 2015 (compared to 2014). The rises are between 10% and 15% in Ireland and +6% in Denmark. He concluded that “over a period of eight years, we have lost almost 50% of milk exports in the EU”.
Romuald Schaber further explained that “Europe's milk producers are at the end of their tether, overproduction is cutting prices and ruining us, the milk producers”. He again called on the EU to introduce a “market responsibility programme”. According to the EMB this instrument would help them anticipate crises and manage them. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)