July 7th, 2015
Harkin calls on Hogan to act now on Dairy Sector Concerns
"Commissioner Hogan must implement more responsive and realistic safety net measures for
the dairy sector in order to address the collapsing milk price and he must ensure that the
intervention price better reflects real production costs". This was stated by Independent MEP
Marian Harkin following strong support for the dairy sector from Members in the European
Parliament today, Tuesday July 7th who voted on a report by Northern Ireland MEP Jim
Nicholson.
She said "this Report recognised that the current safety net measures, such as intervention and
aids to private storage alone, are not sufficient to deal with the persistent volatility in the milk
sector. The intervention price is too low and does not reflect real costs and furthermore the
European Parliament agreed that, subject to objective criteria, export refunds should be
restored temporarily in the case of a market crisis.
"With supply outstripping demand, the impact of the Russian embargo and, with China
pulling back from world markets, there is an impending crisis in the diary sector. This was
clearly signalled by the huge drop in the Global Dairy Index which now stands at 634 points,
less than half of what it was in 2014 and just 61 points above its lowest ever point in July
2009. For an Irish dairy farmer with a 75 cow herd this can lead to reduced income of
€35,000 per annum.
"Persistent volatility in the markets is a huge issue for dairy farmers and the EU Commission
must be willing to intervene before farmers' livelihoods are destroyed. Unfortunately
Commissioner Hogan in his response to the European Parliament gave no indication that the
EU Commission was ready to act. Rather he mentioned tools which the Member States
already have at their disposal, in particular the possibility of coupled support of up to 13%.
He said that such support delivered from €74 per cow in France to €300 per cow in Hungary.
"This is a most disappointing response from the EU Commission and they must not make the
mistake of waiting too long to act as was the case in previous crises. Commissioner Hogan
has real responsibility in helping to ensure a viable sustainable dairy industry in Europe - he
cannot wash his hands and pass the buck entirely to Member States. He has tools at his
disposal and he needs to use those tools now" Marian Harkin concluded.
Marian Harkin MEP
European Parliament
00353 86 834 1758
Tel: +32.2.2847797
E-mail: marian.harkin@europarl.europa.eu
Website: www.marianharkin.com
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