Milk: Call to the EU Agricultural Council

MILK: Call to the Ministers who meet in the Agricultural Council We, milk producers men and women of the European Union can no longer support the situation we are facing because of the totally wrong decisions in favour of the dairy industry and supermarkets. The result of the decreases of the average milk price paid to the farmers in the EU is that in many countries many farms are already selling milk at price below the real production costs. A gradual increase of the quotas, unnecessary to cover the EU demand, only pushes these prices more downwards. This situation is not sustainable and it will only lead more sustainable milk family farms to disappear. The future of the milk sector in the EU cannot be dependent of the swings of the market caused by the dairy industry, the retailing sector and by the decisions of the World Trade Organisation based on the interests of the last . A stable market, regulated by public policies benefits as much to people who produce as to those who consume. It is time for the Ministers who meet in the Agricultural Council, to do self-criticism, to assume their responsibilities and to give a new course for the milk policy, far from the “liberalisation” proposals of the European Commission. The European Coordination Via Campesina proposes: 1. Not to decide any increase the milk quota. 2. To maintain the supply management of the production after 2015 and to improve the quota instrument so that the distribution between the dairy farms in all the European territory is based on fairnes, equity and solidarity. 3. Not to export milk products to prices below the costs of production and of marketing. To ban imports below these costs. 4. To decide the opening of a true negotiation process to fix milk prices that cover the production costs (including production’s work). 5. To favour sustainable production methods based on land and to facilitate access to land to bring into play these methods.