News

On 24/01/2019, the European Commission confirmed that 99% of skimmed-milk powder (SMP) stocks had been sold from intervention stocks. Under the 31st wave of intervention sales that took place on 22/01/2019, the Commission approved an offer to sell 18,514 tonnes of SMP at a minimum price of 158.50 € / 100 kg. The offered prices ranged between 145,10 € / 100kg and 172,10 € / 100kg, the offers came from EE, IE, ES, FI and UK. Since 13/12/2016, the Commission approved sales of 390,892 tons of SMP, sold in the end at 376,041 tons of SMP. Intervention stocks should now be around 3,651 tonnes of SMP. The next tender will take place on 05/02/2019. More information is available here.

All this regulations are available in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The latest successful tender sale of skimmed milk powder public stocks means that 99% of the total stocks bought and managed by the Commission have now been sold. In total, 380,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder (SMP) have been bought by the European Commission between 2015 and 2017 through public intervention to stabilise the market and support farmers' income. Read more

Spanish Minister Luis Planas said it would not be possible to make any progress in the negotiations on the CAP after 2020 without agreeing on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) after 2020. However, according to Planas, the common goal of the Ministers of Agriculture is to strengthen policy, its ambitions as well as environmental sustainability, but also flexibility for Member States to ensure protection for both farmers and EU citizens. Planas has rejected the Commission's proposal to cut the CAP budget, which he believes should be kept at least at the level of the current budget, and to support the inclusion of generational change and the strengthening of the role of women in agriculture in the future CAP.

On 15/01/2019, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze expressed concern about possible rejection of the Commission's proposal for a Common Agricultural Policy post 2020 at the agriculture conference in Berlin. Schulze called on the German Agriculture Minister Julius Klöckner to try to prevent the Commission's rejection. According to Schulze, the time is now right to set agricultural policy and its priorities and to strengthen the role of non-governmental environmental organizations in setting up the CAP. Schulze further confirmed the intention to present an action plan for insect protection. Over the past 30 years, number of insects has fallen by up to 75% in Germany. The action plan should be implemented by the summer of 2019. Last but not least, Schulze also supported the strengthening of CAP funding for organic farming, to ensure that organic farming accounts for at least 20% of agricultural land in Germany.