The European Milk Board (EMB) stated in a press release published on Wednesday 9 May that it did not object to the plan to reduce farm spending over the 2021-2027 period by 5%. It takes the view that the most important thing is to ensure fair prices for producers.
“A reduction in farm funding makes no sense unless, at the same time, it is possible to reach prices that cover costs”, the EMB says.
Erwin Schöpges, EMB President, is not against reducing producers’ dependency on subsidies. He says: “We, the milk producers, are more than happy to earn our income from the sale of our milk. For that, however, prices must cover costs, i.e. our milk should not be sold at a price below the production cost as is currently the case”. In, his view, if Community policy provides for a drop in subsidies, then it is all the more urgent to create the conditions necessary to ensure prices cover costs. To date, the gap between price and cost was minimised by direct payments. The EMB calls for a legal framework allowing a balance to be struck between supply and demand, and for stable and adequate prices to be reached in order to cover costs. The responsibility programme relating to the EMB market provides, for example, for voluntary relinquishing of supplies in the event of market imbalance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)