29 March 2010

2 minute read

The politicians’ role in the future will be a new one; the milk producers will assume greater responsibility and become equal partners in the market. In future the volume of milk is essentially to be geared to a market that will enable cost-covering producer prices; damaging surpluses are to be avoided.

Three characteristics of this future-oriented approach are essential says Romuald Schaber, President of the EMB.

First: the configuration of the milk market must be regarded and implemented as an overall concept. Thus, strengthening the producer associations only makes sense if they too are given the opportunity to control milk supply effectively themselves.

Second: an agency for configuring the milk market can only result in the European milk market operating in a fair way if it pursues socio-political objectives and the cost-covering milk producer price is enshrined in the objectives. It must be geared to the consumers’ and the producers’ interests.

Third: the configuration of the milk market must be a European task. That means decisions taken by a European milk market agency and a European producer association must be generally binding for every milk producer in Europe.

Mr Schaber said: “The people of Europe are entitled to a configuration of the milk market that meets their demands for sustainable milk production and does not cater for the demands of a few export-oriented dairies. This is what the EU High Level Expert Group should never lose sight of in its work.”

To see the EMB's position paper on how, in the future the milk market can be configured in an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable way while allowing for greater responsibility to be borne by the milk producers, click here.

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