Brussels, 25/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Copa-Cogeca, the EU agricultural and cooperative organisations, set out on Thursday 25 February “a list of options to overcome the current market crises and resolve cash flow problems”.
The organisations are looking to have an impact in the current debate on possible new measures to assist ailing sectors. EU member states had until 25 February to submit their ideas for addressing the crisis. At the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) meeting on 7 March, the Dutch Presidency of the Council will present a summary of the measures suggested by the states. On 7 March, too, Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan will discuss the crisis with the members of the European Parliament's agriculture committee in Strasbourg.
It was France which sounded the alarm and provoked debate at EU level on new aid, following on from a €500 million package at the end of 2015. Hogan met the French prime minister and agriculture minister in Paris late on Thursday afternoon.
Export credit insurance. Copa-Cogeca has put forward its ideas to try to tackle “the crisis in several sectors: milk, pigmeat, beef, fruit and vegetables, and cereals among others”. On the commercial level, the EU must strive for the re-opening of the Russian market, point out, unsurprisingly, the agricultural organisations. However, the Commission notes, if genuine negotiation with Moscow is what is desired, then revision of the list of persons not allowed to travel to the EU would be required and this is an issue for which member states' foreign affairs ministries have responsibility. Greater use must also be made of promotion measures and “use of export credit insurance increased with guidelines published and the European Investment Bank (EIB) involved in a European instrument”, Copa-Cogeca stresses.
No great enthusiasm for voluntary reduction in milk production. The agricultural organisations advocate “a better functioning food chain, including sectors upstream to agriculture, by improving price transparency, preventing delays in payment, and curbing unfair trading practices”.
The idea contained within the French memorandum on agricultural markets of granting aid to milk producers who voluntarily cut production in times of crisis has attracted very few supporters. In the Council several countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, have already stated their opposition to it.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen stated that Article 222 of the regulation on the CMO (common organisation of the markets) authorises initiatives that promote a standstill or a voluntary reduction in production. In terms of market forecasts, the EU is looking at a rise of around 2% per year, he said. “Are we going to propose a substantial cut in EU production when our competitors, like the United States and New Zealand, aren't interested in doing likewise?” he wondered. He said that his organisation was giving great consideration to whether it can support such a mechanism. The European Milk Board (EMB) is arguing for a centralised limit on milk production in times of crisis. “This could be done by means of a voluntary reduction in production. That would solve the problem of the saturation of markets”, the EMB says. However, the Commission and countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland “continue to promote a policy of increasing production and remain blind to their responsibility for maintaining social peace in the EU”, according to the EMB. Farm Europe advocates a cut in production levels, through calls for tender, over a limited period of time and for a predetermined volume.
Raising the intervention price. Copa-Cogeca is calling for: - a temporary increase in the intervention price for skimmed milk powder and butter (to which the Commission is still opposed); - private storage aid for these products and for pigmeat to be extended; - measures for fruit and vegetables to be updated (withdrawal price for tomatoes to be increased, with the sector facing severe difficulty because of imports of Moroccan tomatoes). It also supports the proposal announced in September but not yet put into effect of distributing dairy products to refugees, backed by an envelope of €30 million, but makes clear that food aid must not become an accepted market management instrument.
Copa-Cogeca also proposes measures to “ease the pressure on (farmers' and cooperatives') cash flow”: simple financial instruments falling within the compass of rural development, the European programme for small and medium-sized businesses (COSME) and the EIB that will help farmers to continue to invest and to renew loans. “Full use” must also be made of risk-management instruments available as part of rural development or nationally, Copa-Cogeca states. The Commission is to simplify the procedure for amending national rural development programmes to make it easier to put risk-management tools in place. Lastly, the agricultural organisations urge that the cost of inputs be cut by lifting import duties, particularly for fertilisers, agricultural equipment and other production factors. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)