Agriculture ministers from all over Europe met in Brussels this week to discuss the deepening farm income crisis. The council of EU agriculture ministers outlined a number of measures to try and support a more competitive and sustainable agricultural sector.
Agriculture ministers from all over Europe met in Brussels this week to discuss the deepening farm income crisis.
The council of EU agriculture ministers outlined a number of measures to try and support a more competitive and sustainable agricultural sector.
Essentially the proposed solutions outlined below are the political response to a number of the issues raised by farm organisations from all over Europe.
The current market problems in milk and pigmeat are due mainly to the fact EU product is banned from Russia, a slowdown in the Chinese purchasing power and an oversupply of milk on the global market (see Figure 1).
The summary outcomes are listed below:
EU to allow the voluntary supply management of milk during periods of price downturns by invoking Article 222. This enables voluntary agreements of producer organisations, inter-branch organisations and co-operatives on supply management.
The temporary agreement is applicable for an initial period of six months, subject to renewal, if necessary.
€400m crisis reserve is to be left untouched for the moment, and member states could use their unused share of the €420m targeted aid and national paid top-ups. Ireland has already spent its allocation.Intervention ceilings for skim milk powder (SMP) and butter increased to 218,000t and 100,000t, respectively.European Investment Bank (EIB) asked to work with member states and companies to extend financial instruments to help the industry. Commitment to also examine the feasibility of an export credit tool to stimulate trade that is complementary to existing member states’ schemes. Increase in state aid thresholds: considering temporary increase of
state aid that would allow member states to provide a maximum of €15,000 per farmer per year. The current rule is €15,000 over three
years. An extra €3.5m promotion funding for dairy and pigment Consider provision of further support for the pig meat sectorCreate a market observatory for the beef and pig meat sectorsWhat wasn’t cleared?
Ireland requested deferred repayments of dairy superlevy charges for the current year – extending the end date of the scheme into 2018 but Minister Coveney suggested this would be handled on a bilateral basis when questioned. 
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