Brussels, 20/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - A number of organisations representing farmers in Europe, just as some MEPs had done, expressed regret on Wednesday 20 July that the €500 million aid plan does not contain compulsory reduction in milk production (EUROPE 11597, 11596).
For the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), “the lack of concrete guarantees from the EU that every country will reduce its milk production, largely undermines the implementation of solutions to the dairy crisis”.
The money announced by the European Commission is not enough, says ECVC. One of its Portuguese members, José-Miguel Pacheco Gonc¸alves, says that, since January 2014, milk prices have gone from an average of 40 cents to 25 cents per kilo. “If we take the 500 million euros offered by EU authorities and we divide it among dairy producers in the EU, each farmer would have the right to 0.3 cents per kilo of milk! While what we have lost is 15 cents per kilo!” he railed. ECVC argues that the solution is a compulsory reduction of milk production: “Only this can put an end to the continuous drop of milk prices”.
A similarly disappointed European Milk Board (EMB) would have liked to have seen radical decisions taken to reduce over-production on the market. “Instead of taking a consequent EU-wide approach, which would offer all producers the possibility of voluntary production cuts, €350 million of the total 500 million package - that is, the majority - was allocated to measures that are not clearly defined”, regrets the EMB. President of the EMB Romuald Schaber argued that €1560 million to reduce production “is not nearly enough in light of the severity of the current crisis”. The EMB is disappointed, too, that no provision has been made for capping the production of farmers not taking part in the measure, during the (“too short”) three-month period when producers who cut volumes will be compensated financially. The EMB feels that there is a great risk that the reductions achieved will be “neutralised” by increased production by other producers. The effect on milk prices would, therefore, be “minimal or insignificant”. The EMB argues, too, that the roughly 14 cents to be paid for each litre of milk not produced is not enough of an incentive. “This compensation has to be higher in order to generate enough willingness and bring about sufficient volume reduction on the market.”
The organisations and cooperatives represented by Copa-Cogeca, on the contrary, welcomed the €500 million aid package proposed by the Commission. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)