Brussels, 27/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - The new intervention ceiling for public purchases of skimmed milk powder was reached on Wednesday 25 May. The European Commission will now have to increase this limit to 3500 t limit, in an effort to avoid increased pressure on the milk market, which is already experiencing significant problems.
On 20 April last, the Commission doubled this intervention ceiling from 109,000 t to 218,000 t (see EUROPE 11538). On 23 May, 216,791 t had already been stored, mainly by Germany, France and Belgium (almost 40,000 tonnes each), followed by Poland, Ireland and the Netherlands (around 25,000 tonnes each). A new increase in this ceiling was deemed unavoidable. Two days later, the Commission addressed the European Parliament and confirmed that it would be proposing to increase this ceiling to 350,000 tonnes. In the meantime, the Commission will once again have to put in place a call for proposals, as it did so at the beginning of April by purchasing 27,000 tonnes of milk powder. In 2015, aid for private storage and public intervention involved a total of 2.8 million tonnes of milk products, whereas EU production increased by 3.5 million tonnes, explained the Commissioner. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)