Press Release: Milk: Commission proposes further measures to help dairy sector in short, medium and long term

On 17 September 2009 Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, set out in detail the latest stage of the Commission's ongoing campaign to help European Union dairy farmers out of the current market crisis. The package of measures, presented to the European Parliament, followed up the Commission's report from July and looks at both short-term measures and actions to secure the longer-term future of the dairy sector. The Commission had already started the process of allowing Member States to pay temporarily aid of up to €15,000 to farmers. It also proposed that the dairy sector should be covered by an emergency clause which already exists for other farm sectors, to allow a quicker response to future market disturbances. Changes to the operation of quota buying-up schemes by Member States will make sure that bought up quota which is kept in the national reserve should no longer count as part of the national quota when it comes to deciding whether or not superlevy is due. If superlevy is then collected, the part corresponding to the bought-up quota can be used for restructuring. With a view to the longer term, the Commission will establish a working group of experts from the Member States and the Commission. This will look, among other things, at contractual relations between farmers and the dairy industry, the results of the report into the workings of the food chain in the dairy sector - which will be published before the end of the year - and the possibility of a dairy futures market.

European Commission: SPEECH?09/395: Next steps for the dairy sector: replies to the European Parliament http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/09/395&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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