Existing aid to dairy farmers will continue until at least next February, MEPs agreed on Thursday. But they also warned that the European Commission needs to do more to tackle the overall crisis in the dairy sector.
MEPs voted by 447 votes to 70 (with 16 abstentions) to approve draft legislation to extend aid for buying up butter and skimmed milk powder to at least February next year - the scheme had been due to end in August. Such aid should also apply to cheese, say MEPs, though the final say on this rests with the Council of Ministers.
In an additional resolution on the problems facing dairy farmers, MEPs called for more action to address medium and long term problems in the dairy sector.
For the text of the full European Parliament press release, see http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/032-60696-257-09-38-904-20090915IPR60695-14-09-2009-2009-false/default_en.htm
Five UK MEPs spoke in Thursday morning's debate. Here are edited extracts from their contributions. (The full debate will be available later today on the main European Parliament website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/plenary/cre.do?language=EN
George Lyon MEP (LibDem, Scotland): Consumers are losing out as they fail to get the benefits from the fall in milk prices. Farmers are losing out because they do not receive a fair share of the retail milk price. We welcome the Commission’s investigations into the food chain but, Commissioner, we want you to go further.
Will you commit to action that will root out supermarket abuse of their monopoly positions? Will you commit to a competitive market that allows producers a fair share of the cake, and will you commit to a functional milk market that gives a fair deal to farmers and a fair price to consumers?
James Nicholson (UUP, Northern Ireland): Of course I remember the time of the milk lakes and the butter mountains, and I do not want to go back to that. I do not think anybody in the industry wants to go back to that situation: neither the farmer, nor the processors, nor the Commission nor we in this Parliament.
Until we tackle the power of the supermarkets in this area we will not have the answer. They have to be controlled. We need an ombudsman, someone who can tell the supermarkets that they are acting beyond their remit, that they are ripping the people off, ripping the farmers off and putting them out of business in the process.
Diane Dodds (DUP, Northern Ireland): In my country, in Northern Ireland, the dairy sector is of vital importance. When the dairy sector struggles, the rest of the rural economy struggles. In Northern Ireland not only have they had to contend with poor milk prices and high costs, but we have suffered a third consecutive wet summer and this has had a devastating effect on the dairy industry in Northern Ireland.
I call on the Commission to take short-term measures to help: measures that will increase demand for milk; measures that will cut the cost of production; measures that will address the supply chain with its decreasing farm‑gate prices and high supermarket prices; and measures that in the long term will create a sustainable industry and a future for young farmers.
John Bufton (UKIP, Wales): I feel that the biggest problem lies with the retail industry, which is making huge profits off the backs of our dairy farmers. When we see what the supermarkets are charging consumers for milk, and then look at what the dairy farmer actually receives, the difference is just incredible.
If action is not taken on the issue in the very near future then I really do believe that many of our dairy farmers in Wales, and the rest of the UK, will go out of business.
Richard Ashworth (Conservative, South East): Madam President, can I compliment the Commissioner on her vision for the future of the industry, and may I say that I strongly support her intention to abolish milk quotas. I think this is the right decision to make.
...Firstly, in my view, the implementation of the super levy at this time would be inappropriate. It is a short‑term, knee‑jerk reaction. It will send all the wrong messages and it will only effectively penalise efficient producers who are making plans to stay in the industry for the long term.
Secondly, we need to recognise that there is little or no direct relationship between the price in the retail sector and the raw material price received at the farm gate. That is what I term a dysfunctional price‑chain mechanism...I therefore urge the Commission in the long term to come forward with plans to ensure that there will be some sort of stability mechanism for the benefit not only of producers but also, of course, of consumers in the long term.