Brussels, 07/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a joint statement made on Monday 7 September in Brussels, agriculture ministers from 16 EU countries (Germany and France as the front runners, as well as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) declared that “existing measures…are not enough to improve the situation facing farmers. The EU must take new tough and concrete measures”. Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and Slovakia also requested a possible suspension of the 1% increase in milk quotas planned for 2010-11. On the other hand, several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Denmark, called for new market measures and demanded that quota policy remain the same (1% increase before they are scrapped in 2015). Italy did not support the position of the 16 member states and called for private cheese storage aid, as well as aid for promoting and adapting labelling rules on product source (Italy produces 11.5 million tonnes of milk but imports 8 million).
The group of 16 are demanding that there is a temporary increase in intervention prices; an increase in export discounts (butter, milk powder and cheese); reactivation of incorporation aid for skimmed milk and skimmed milk powder for animal feed; intervention stocks (butter and milk powder) occur once prices have “significantly increased”; a rethink on opportunities in the European programme for modernising and adapting the milk sector. All this would incur a cost to liberal countries opposed to the new market measures; new forms of regulation so that the sector does not just depend on market rules (adaptation of current market management instruments, contracts between producers and business leaders, labelling origins of products). In order to prepare the possible decision from the Council next month, the Special Agriculture Committee (SAC) has been called on to continue the examination of the European Commission's report of 22 July on the situation in the market. (L.C./transl.rh)