A new package of measures was presented this Monday by the Commission to the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers. As it has done in the past, the EU has taken a timid stance at dealing with the current dairy crisis. The EU has opted for injecting cash and trusting the Market, thus prolonging the disappearance of milk producers.
Press Release Brussels, 19 July 2016 A new package of measures was presented this Monday by the Commission to the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers. As it has done in the past, the EU has taken a timid stance at dealing with the current dairy crisis. The EU has opted for injecting cash and trusting the Market, thus prolonging the disappearance of milk producers. The aid package, which runs for 3 months and extends the private storage and public intervention for skimmed milk powder, includes a budget of 150 million euros -resembling an open invitation to tender- for farmers to voluntarily reduce milk production. Then, in an apparent attempt to pass over the hot potato, the Commission has announced it will liberate 350 million euros in conditional adjustment aid for members states. For the European Coordination Via Campesina, the lack of concrete guarantees from the EU that every country will reduce its milk production, largely undermines the implementation of solutions to the dairy crisis. What's more, if the amount announced by the Commission appears substantial at first, the reality is quite different. José-Miguel Pacheco Gonçalves, small farmer from Portugal and member of ECVC's Coordination Committee, denounces that “since January 2014 milk prices have gone from an average of 40 cents to 25 cents per kilo. If we take the 500 million euros offered by EU authorities and we divide it among dairy producers in the EU, each farmer would have the right to 0,3 cents per kilo of milk! While what we have lost is 15 cents per kilo! The cost for these losses are not being paid. The compensation is insignificant.” For ECVC, a true solution is the mandatory reduction of milk production. Only this can put an end to the continuous drop of milk prices, and without the waste of public money - a reasonable measure if EU leaders decided to break away from their short sightedness and market oriented dogmatism. Contacts: José-Miguel Pacheco Gonçalves : 00351 968 721 995 ES, PT Geneviève Savigny: 0033 6255 51687 FR, EN