Addressing the Oxford Farming Conference, EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said the commission had already decided not to renew the milk quota regime when it expires in March 2015.

“My view is that quotas are limiting the production possibilities of farmers. We should not give farmers the false impression that we will again extend the regime.”

Speaking to journalists she added that she would give clearer indications about the way in which they might be phased out once the commission had published its report on the dairy sector at the end of 2007.

Mrs Fischer Boel added that, within the 2008 “health check” of the CAP and 2009 review of the financial budget, the EU Commission would take a close look at the functioning of the single farm payment.

This would include a move to get rid of partial decoupling “not later than 2013”. If there were specific problems with things like the suckler cow herd, then this could be dealt with through the Rural Development Programme.

Source: Farmers Weekly Interactive