Faced with a deteriorating dairy market, the Social Democratic group (S&D) in the European Parliament is calling on the European Commission to swiftly intervene, believing that market mechanisms alone are not enough to ensure a fair income for producers.
At the end of February, Dario Nardella wrote a letter on behalf of the S&D MEPs on the Committee on Agriculture that was addressed to European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen.
The group’s elected representatives are calling for consistent access to the most recent market data in order to respond “swiftly and proportionately”. They request that the European Commission comprehensively map the crisis management instruments available under the common market organisation (CMO).
In particular, the Social Democrats propose using voluntary production reduction, in accordance with Article 222 of the CMO Regulation, by supporting the voluntary early slaughter of end-of-career animals, which is strictly limited to non-productive animals. Other requests include private storage and compensatory payments for producers.
At the same time, the S&D elected representatives believe that it is vital to act on demand in order to ease the pressure on the market. They call for an intensification of European promotional campaigns for dairy products, increased support for the EU school scheme, and initiatives aiming to reduce input costs.
In addition, the Social Democrats stress the need to improve transparency and fairness throughout the entire food supply chain.
During the debates with Christophe Hansen on Thursday, 19 March, most of the political groups shared the view that the dairy market is experiencing a crisis (see EUROPE 13832/10).
Nevertheless, the European Commission is taking a more cautious approach. “This downward trend [in prices] is causing concerns”, a representative from the Directorate-General for Agriculture acknowledged on Wednesday, 18 March, during a debate dedicated to the sector. She pointed out that the increase in milk deliveries since the summer of 2025 can be explained by previous incentives to produce more, which are notably linked to the sudden rise in the price of butter that started in 2023. According to the European Commission, prices have now returned to a level comparable to that of 2023, while European exports continue to increase.
The European Commission also reiterated that the programme to voluntarily reduce production that was introduced during the 2016 crisis had cost €150 million and achieved a drop of around 1% in milk collection in the EU. At current prices, a comparable instrument would be even more expensive.
The European Commission highlighted existing and upcoming levers, including the recent revision of the CMO (which makes written contracts compulsory) and the EU–Mercosur trade agreement, which will open up additional export quotas, namely 10,000 tonnes of milk powder, 30,000 tonnes of cheese, and 5,000 tonnes of formula milk.
Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French) called for the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to open an investigation in order to verify that the butter futures market on the EEX in Leipzig is functioning properly, believing that speculation that is “out of touch with the actual economy” is contributing to the fall in milk prices.
The S&D letter: https://aeur.eu/f/la1 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)