European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in his 2016 state of the Union speech in Strasbourg on Wednesday 14 September that he could not accept that milk is less expensive than water.
“The Commission will always stand by our farmers, particularly when they go through difficult moments as is the case today”, he told MEPs adding: “I will not accept that milk is cheaper than water. A strong part of our European way of life that I want to preserve is our agricultural sector”. He pointed out that Europe’s dairy sector has been adversely affected by the Russian embargo on the import of agricultural products from the EU. “This is why the Commission mobilised €1 billion in support of milk farmers to help them get back on their feet”, he stated.
The European Commission could bring forward proposals in 2017 to strengthen the position of farmers on the food supply chain, helping them tackle unfair commercial practices, for example (see EUROPE 11623). Last year, Juncker was critical of the shortcomings in the structure of the dairy market (see EUROPE 11385). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)