Russian ban: EU should have been much quicker off blocks

It’s at times like this that the EU resembles a 1980s dairy co-op, with fast decision making to counter the sudden Russian food import ban rendered impossible, due mainly to conflicting parochial interests among the 28 member states.

In the bad old days of unwieldy co-op boards, management reactions to markets were slowed by lack of agreement in crowded boardrooms.

Meanwhile, two weeks after the EU agri-food industry was confronted by a potentially momentous event, the only decision out of Brussels has been to introduce support measures for EU producers of perishable fruit and vegetables — which might have happened even without the Russian ban, because of the difficulties in the fruit and vegetables sector this summer.