The European Commission yesterday presented a new package of measures worth €500 million from EU funds to support farmers in the face of ongoing market difficulties, particularly on the dairy market. This comprehensive support package is further evidence of the Commission’s continued commitment to the agricultural sector across the EU.
The measures were presented to yesterday’s Council of EU Agriculture Ministers by Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan: “Our ultimate goal is to see the much needed recovery of prices paid to farmers, so that they may make a living from their work and continue to provide safe, high quality food for citizens, as well as their contribution to rural areas and rural jobs and the provision of public goods.”
The package contains three main elements: an EU-wide scheme to incentivise a reduction in milk production (€150 million), conditional adjustment aid to be defined and implemented at Member State level (€350 million), and a range of technical measures. The precise details of all the different measures will be finalised in the coming weeks, in consultation with Member State experts. The budget implications of the proposed measures will be incorporated in an amending letter to the draft budget 2017 in the autumn.
