Support measures decided in Brussels will partially ease the situation in agriculture

The Farmers' Council, initially assessing the decisions made at the informal Council of Ministers of Agriculture on Monday, admits that we expected greater understanding and more effective solutions from the decision-makers. The support measures mentioned are insufficient to significantly alleviate the current situation in the milk, meat, and fruit and vegetable sectors.

Measures that will help to stabilize farm cash flows somewhat, such as the expected support for the dairy sector in the amount of 420 million and faster disbursement of direct payments and Rural Development Plan area payments, are welcome.

"It is good that Monday's meeting has yielded visible results, because the European Commission's previous position suggested that problems in the sector were not being seen. However, it must be admitted that great disappointment is expected in the dairy sector. Farmers have paid almost 900 million euros in fines for exceeding the milk quota this year. The sector was counting on the full return of these funds, while the decision was made for only 420 million euros in support! I think that farmers' protests in the EU will not subside in the coming months," The incident is commented on by the Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Steelworkers, M. Dzelzkalēja.

For a long time, dairy farmers in Latvia and the other Baltic States have been demanding a review of the milk intervention price, which has not been changed since 2008. It is gratifying that the EU Council has finally considered the possibility of increasing the milk intervention price, which would ensure an increase in the purchase price of milk. We believe that the intervention price should not be significantly lower than the costs of milk production. We also positively assess the fact that the EC will allocate additional funds for activities to search for new markets, and we hope that bureaucratic obstacles to the use of these instruments will also be reduced.

Unfortunately, no decision has been made on support for export insurance for cattle, pigs and dairy products, which would help reduce risks when developing new markets. The list of proposed solutions pays too little attention to solving the problems of the cattle and pork sectors.

More detailed information on the distribution of funds will be available next week. We wish the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture success and perseverance in further negotiations, defending the interests of our country!