EU Approves $417 Million Aid Package for Dairy Sector

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has reportedly announced €280 million ($417 million) in additional subsidies to dairy farmers affected by plummeting agricultural prices. Intended to appease vocal protesters and agricultural lobbies, the aid responded to requests from 21 member states, including France and Germany, despite objections from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In addition, the European Union has agreed to cap milk production, although it stopped short of creating a pan-European institution to regulate the market. “We hope that we can stabilize the market with the proposals that we have today,” Swedish Farm Minister Eskil Erlandsson was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the European Milk Board has welcomed the subsidies and production limits but noted that farmers have already lost €15 billion ($22 billion) in the current economic crisis. “That shows that 280 million euros won’t get us far,” the board president told reporters. See The Canadian Press, Daily Mail Reporter, The Parliament. com, October 20, 2009.