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Milk price crisis: debate on how to rescue dairy farmers
As milk prices have collapsed across the EU and show no signs of recovering any time soon, MEPs will quiz Commissioner Phil Hogan on measures to alleviate pressure on dairy farmers and stabilize their incomes in a debate on Thursday, starting at 8.30. Factors blamed for the crisis include the Russian ban on imports from the EU, the end of milk quotas in 2015 and a drop in global demand.
MEPs will also ask the Council why dairy farmers in some EU states have not been using their newly won price bargaining power to join forces in producer organisations and negotiate delivery contracts together.
You can watch the plenary debate via EP Live, and EbS+.
Background
In 12 April plenary debate MEPs called for rapid relief for dairy farmers and structural reforms to make them more resilient to market shocks and to ensure they are paid fairly.
Parliament also called in July 2015 for mechanisms to protect dairy farmers from abuses in the retail market and insisted that the role of the Milk Market Observatory must be enhanced to enable it to issue crisis warnings earlier and recommend action.
