EU Pledges €500m to Farmers as Protests Bring Brussels to a Standstill

08 Sept 2015 --- Brussels came to a standstill yesterday (Monday) as nearly 5,000 farmers from around Europe marched in with tractors in a protest about the falling prices for meat and milk. As violence erupted in some areas, an emergency EU meeting of agriculture ministers agreed an aid package of €500m.

Farmers came from Belgium, France, Germany, the UK, Northern Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic to protest at the prices they are forced to sell their meat and dairy products for. The farming crisis that currently affects farmers around Europe is made of a perfect storm of removal of the EU quotas for milk production, a surplus of milk, the Russian embargo on European products and the unexpected fall in demand from China. Many farmers also blame supermarkets for paying too little for milk. Prices have dropped by around 25% compared with the same time last year.

Falling prices of beef, pork and milk has put increased pressure on farmers, many of whom are facing bankruptcy. In France, it is estimated that around 10% of farms will close in the near future and the picture looks the same around Europe.

Speaking at the extraordinary Council of agriculture Ministers, Vice-President Katainen said: "This package will allow for €500 million of EU funds to be used for the benefit of farmers immediately. This is a robust and decisive response. This response demonstrates that the Commission takes its responsibility towards farmers very seriously and is prepared to back it up with the appropriate funds. This is particularly important, given other competing budgetary demands."

The focus of this response is threefold: (1) addressing the cash-flow difficulties farmers are facing, (2) stabilising markets and (3) addressing the functioning of the supply chain.

The Commission will propose that the most significant part of the comprehensive package will be provided to all Member States in envelopes to support the dairy sector. In determining the distribution of this aid, the Commission will ensure that it is fairly distributed, targeted and effective, having particular regard to those Member States and those farmers which have been most affected by the market developments. The Commission's intention is to provide maximum discretion to Member States to reflect their specific situations.

Around 70 UK farmers joined the thousands taking part in the farming demo and the four farming union Presidents of the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers Union held the separate meeting ahead of the extraordinary Agriculture Council held in Brussels.

In a joint statement the UK Presidents said: “Right now, today, farmers are really struggling to pay their bills. This is having a huge impact not only on farming families but for other businesses that rely on the farming sector. We have strongly urged our UK ministers to argue for more flexibility from the commission to allow the UK government, and the devolved administrations, to pay farmers BPS and agri-environment monies at the very least on time and in full. This will help put money where it is needed most.

“We want to see a review of intervention for milk prices to help put a floor in the market and a review of market management measures to help farmers get through this short-term crisis.

In a later statement, the NFU said: “The NFU has welcomed today’s announcement by the European Commission of a €500m package to alleviate the pressure in the farming sector.”

It went on to say that: “It is disappointing that the Commission won’t review the intervention price in the dairy sector because we feel it has a role to play. An increase in the price could help put a price floor in the market and boost confidence in the dairy sector. We will continue to press the Commission on this point.”