At the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg on Monday 10 October, several member states (including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Spain) expressed concern at the possible consequences of the ending of sugar production quotas in 2017. They called for effective Community tools to be put in place or triggered to avoid market problems.
With a sugar expert group meeting coming up, the Polish delegation asked the European Commission, during the “other business” section of the Council, to present the most recent forecasts for the sector and the instruments available to stabilise the market following the abolition of quotas.
At the press conference, Slovak Minister Gabriela Matecna, who chaired the Council discussions, said that the member states were in agreement that tools were needed if the crisis that has engulfed the milk sector since quotas were ended is to be avoided in the sugar sector. She acknowledged, however, that there was no consensus within the Council on the form these tools should take. Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said that the role of the expert group was precisely to propose appropriate tools.
Market situation. Hogan gave an update on the situation of the agricultural markets. He noted improvements in the dairy and pigmeat sectors but cereal harvests and prices were disappointing. He admitted that the beef situation was problematic in a number of member states and confirmed that €15 million was being made available to promote the eating of beef. He welcomed the take-up of almost all the aid for reducing milk production (€150 million) proposed in the anti-crisis aid package in July.
In his view, the priority now should be to relaunch efforts to find fresh outlets for EU agricultural products in third countries.
France highlighted the difficult situation being faced by grain producers and pig farmers. The Danish and German delegations argued that the market orientation of the common agricultural policy (CAP) should not be questioned.
Pigmeat. Poland informed the Council of the difficulties being caused to its pig sector by the African swine fever virus. It called for Community support measures to stem the impact of the current epidemic and prevent it spreading to the rest of the EU. Several member states, including the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark and Spain, backed Poland’s calls and concerns. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)