Press Release: Milk: Commission adopts latest proposals to support dairy farmers

On 9 October 2009 the European Commission proposed two changes to the rules governing the dairy sector as part of its continuing efforts to stabilise the milk market. Firstly, and as announced last month by Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, it is proposed that the dairy sector should in future be covered by a disturbance clause which already exists for other farm sectors, to allow a quicker response to future market disturbances. Secondly, for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 quota years, changes to the operation of quota buying-up schemes by Member States will ensure 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 superlevy is due for exceeding the quota. If superlevy is then collected, the part corresponding to the bought-up quota can be used by Member States for restructuring of the sector. These proposals will be discussed by EU agriculture ministers on 19 October. Later this month, the Commission will formally adopt changes to state aid rules to allow Member States to pay farmers up to €15,000 each in national aid before the end of 2010.