Brussels, 23/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 23 June, six organisations defending producers in the milk sector in six countries of the EU called upon the institutions of the EU to adopt new measures to manage the crisis.
The organisations which are calling upon the Agriculture Council of Monday 27 June to take new measures are from six countries: France, Finland, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Spain (see EUROPE 11578). They are calling upon the Community authorities to set in place crisis management tools which will aim to reinstate a balance of supply and demand on the milk markets: - an additional financial envelope should be provided to correct the imbalance between supply and demand. In this context, a European budget for the crisis, taken from the implementing flexibility of the agriculture budget, would be allocated on the condition of a voluntary reduction of volumes (or a stabilisation of volumes); - in the future, any other support measure to the dairy sector would have to help to reduce or stabilise production. For instance, the organisations suggest that the next intervention tranche (intervention purchases) will be available only to producers undertaking to reduce or to stabilise volumes.
According to these organisations, the common agriculture policy post-2020 should adopt effective tools to manage the effects of volatility and prevent and manage crises such as the one the EU is currently experiencing. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)