Portion of subsidies to be paid early to alleviate dairy crisis

EUROPEAN politicians have announced a €500million support package for the continent’s crisis-hit farmers after hundreds of farmers piled into Brussels to demand urgent action to counter slumping prices paid to them for milk and pork.
By Ben Barnett
Published 7th Sep 2015, 19:06 BST
Police officers block tractors during today's farmers demonstration in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)Police officers block tractors during today's farmers demonstration in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Police officers block tractors during today's farmers demonstration in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Exactly how much of that money British farmers will benefit from is yet to be decided but the majority of the multi-million pounds budget is aimed at the dairy sector.

The European Commission released a statement after what was an extraordinary meeting of European agricultural ministers in the Belgian capital this afternoon, in which it said it was working on a package of targeted aid for all 28 member states to boost milk producers.

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Riot police are hit with eggs during the farmers protest in the Belgian capital. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)Riot police are hit with eggs during the farmers protest in the Belgian capital. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Riot police are hit with eggs during the farmers protest in the Belgian capital. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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Dairy farmers have suffered from falling prices for their milk for more than a year so that many receive well below the cost of production. The average UK price for a litre of milk is 23.35 pence, government figures show.

A key measure announced by the Commission was a concession allowing governments to release up to 70 per cent of direct subsidy payments to farmers from October 16, subject to checks, ahead of the official payment window in December.

In addition, up to 85 per cent of separate EU payments for farmers to carry out so-called “agri-environment” schemes can be paid from the same date.

The UK’s Environment Minister Elizabeth Truss called for funds to be released ahead of the Agriculture Council meeting.

Tractors drive down a main avenue in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)Tractors drive down a main avenue in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Tractors drive down a main avenue in Brussels. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
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Farmers from across the EU converged on the Commission’s headquarters for the meeting, including from Yorkshire as part of a contigent of around 70 British farmers.

Hundreds of them arrived on tractors, many blowing their horns, bringing morning rush hour traffic in the Belgian capital to a halt on some roads. Television footage showed one tractor spraying hay from the back of one tractor over police officers.

British farmers have seenprices for milk, lamb and cereals as well as other commodities, fall below production costs over the last year. With quotas to control milk production in member states now abolished and Russia and China having turned away from the market, the dairy sector in particular has seen prices slide as supply outstrips demand.

Unveiling the support package, the Commission’s Finnish vice-president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, said: “This package will allow for €500m of EU funds to be used for the benefit of farmers immediately. This is a robust and decisive response.

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“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.”

Mr Katainen, who deputised for Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan due to an illness, added that financial help will be distributed to farmers in countries who had been the most affected by the depressed global milk market.

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