Brussels, 17/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Tuesday 17 May, Italian agriculture minister Maurizio Martina mooted ideas for stopping the fall of milk and dairy product prices on the markets, including the idea of an EU incentive to encourage the reduction of dairy production.
On the fringes of the Agriculture Council that was examining the situation on agriculture markets, the Italian minister said he was working with France, Germany and Spain on solutions to tackle the milk and dairy produce crisis.
Italy is one of the countries asking the European Commission to release EU funding to encourage dairy farmers to cut production (see EUROPE 11550). The planned measure, which came into force on 13 April, is voluntary and does not yet have any EU funding. Countries are allowed to compensate farmers who agree to reduce quantity and only from national rather than EU aid. The Commission has thus far refused to release EU funding on the grounds of budget constraints and because EU countries have so far only spent half of the €420 million released in September 2015 to deal with the farm crisis.
In a working document, Italy also recommends that progress is made in terms of the labelling of the origin of farm products: - extending for two or three years the voluntary reduction of supply measure (Article 222 of the regulation on the common organisation of the markets); - EU financing of the reduction in milk production in the member states (this measure would cover the whole of the EU); - exempting dairy farms in mountainous areas from the production reduction measures; and - setting up a common organisation of the market for instruments to manage supply. In addition, Italy and other dairy-producing countries asked at the Council meeting for improvements in the aid scheme for fruit and vegetables (see other article). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)