Phil Hogan foresees no short-term relief for farming crisis
He told members of the European Parliament agriculture committee in Strasbourg that despite the measures taken to date the hoped for recovery in prices has not materialised.
EU member states have submitted proposals for alleviating the crisis in several agricultural sectors, including pig meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables ahead of a Council of Minsters meeting in Brussels today.
Mr Hogan said the Commission is determined to find solutions commensurate to the seriousness of the current difficulties, and will respond formally at the council.
He said he is determined that the commission will play its full role in assisting European farmers, using all of the tools available.
“My assessment of the current situation is that, unfortunately, it is likely to be with us for some time to come,” he said.
Mr Hogan said demand is weak across a range of commodities, which is having a negative knock-on effect. Oil prices are back to $30/barrel, down 70% in the last year-and-a-half.
This weakness is impacting negatively on the buying power of many of the EU’s existing or potential trading partners.
Meanwhile, growth in the Chinese market has slowed noticeably and seems likely to slow down further next year.
And there is the impact of the Russian ban, which has closed out EU products from what was a very important market.
Since the beginning of last year, the Commission has, on several occasions, intervened to support producers, mobilising more than €1 billion in support measures.
Mr Hogan said he does not believe an increase in the intervention price for milk is an appropriate instrument and he will not be proposing it.
