Press release

To simplify the common market organisation (CMO) in milk and milk products, in February the Commission proposed three sets of amendments to regulations and directives.  Three reports by Elisabeth JEGGLE (EPP-ED, DE) on each of these texts were adopted by the European Parliament under the procedure for consulting the European Parliament.  They endorse the bulk of the measures proposed by the Commission, but also propose several amendments to balance certain aspects of this "mini-reform".

 

 

MEPs favour introducing a single school milk aid rate, to simplify the management of this scheme.  But they consider that aid should be raised from €16.11/100kg to €18.15/100kg - as the EU's German Presidency also suggested in parallel discussions with the Council - to encourage efforts to promote balanced nutrition and combat obesity.  MEPs also ask the Commission to assess the possibility of widening the range of products covered by the scheme, notably to include new, innovative and healthy products.

 

The European Parliament recommends approving without amendment the Commission proposals to:

 

- reduce the skimmed milk powder intervention price by 2.8%, to €169.80 for 100 kg;

 

- abolish the system that activates the buying-in of butter when market prices fall below 92% of the intervention price for two consecutive weeks: cumbersome to manage, this system has also outlived its usefulness and should be replaced by a mechanism that allows buying-in at a lower price for a longer period during the year;

 

- harmonise definitions of butter quality (there are currently 27 national classes);

 

- abandon mandatory import certificates (which new control systems have rendered unnecessary):

 

- abolish the arrangement that allows the armed forces to buy cut-price butter (considered superfluous today).

 

 

The House considers that budget savings stemming from changes to the CMO (a total of €117.3m from 2008 to 2013, according to the European Commission) must benefit the dairy sector. It therefore calls for a milk fund restructuring programme from 1 January 2008 to:

 

- help producers and processors to cope with the growing liberalisation of the market,

 

- upgrade promotion measures and the dissemination of nutrition information,

 

- maintain and modernise production in mountainous regions, and

 

- strengthen the school milk distribution scheme.

 

According to the rapporteur, these measures could facilitate a "soft landing" for the sector with a view to the CAP "health check" planned for 2008 and forthcoming discussions on the expiry of milk quotas.

 

MEPs also oppose the abolition of private storage aids for cream and skimmed milk powder.  Ms Jeggle says this instrument needs to be retained as a "safety net". She underlines that similar mechanisms were retained in other sectors in the last reform of the common agricultural policy, and that abolishing them would be an essentially political decision, which must be considered as part of the "health check".

 

 

The House recommends approving, with some clarifications, the proposal to liberalise drinking milk production and marketing rules, so as to take account of new consumer preferences for less fatty products.

 

At present, only three milk categories are authorised in the EU: skimmed milk (maximum 0.5% fat), semi-skimmed (from 1.5% to 1.8% fat) and whole milk (3.5% fat).  The Commission wants to authorise marketing of milk outside these categories, provided fat content is clearly labelled.  To avoid confusing consumers, MEPs say that the names of these products should be stated on the label, and the proposed margins of tolerance for stating fat content (+/- 0.2%) should be deleted.

 

 

Finally, Members recommend approving without amendment the Commission proposal to bring authorised protein content for milk powder and condensed milk - currently between 31% and 37% - into line with the international (Codex) standard of 34%.  The aim of this is to put European exporters on an equal footing with other exporters.