A date that will go down in history as a landmark day for European agriculture is 1 April 2015. The abolition of the milk quota system is in fact the end point of a journey begun as far back as 1984. The decision to end milk quotas is not a new one, of course, having been proposed in 2003 and confirmed in 2008 and again in the most recent CAP reform of 2013. It is thus the closing of a chapter in the history of the European – and indeed global – dairy sector, as much as the opening of a new chapter – a new era without production constraints.

I very much welcome member states’ resounding vote in favour of our proposal to allow farmers to stagger impending dairy superlevy payments, enabling member states to collect the fines in three interest-free instalments in 2015, 2016 and 2017. This is an important option and can help reduce the burden on dairy farmers entering the post-quota era in full readiness for the opportunity which awaits.

Of course, as with any transition, there will always be threats and opportunities, winners and losers. The role of policymakers is to maximise the potential opportunities and to ensure that appropriate safety nets are put in place for those at risk from the changed environment.

Anyone active in the dairy sector in Ireland or in Europe, as a whole, is more than aware of the opportunities of milk quota abolition. As Europeans, we only need to look at global population trends and the production figures of the other major players in the global dairy market in recent years to understand the enormous potential for a sector unshackled from production constraints. For instance, in the past four years alone, New Zealand has grown its milk pool by almost 3.5billion litres – the equivalent of 65% of Ireland’s entire output. In fact, New Zealand has increased its dairy herd by one million head in the past 10 years. In the past four years, the changes have been dramatic and Europe has had to stand on the sidelines while the world trade in dairy has grown from 53bn litres to 65bn litres. The lack of production constraints in the New Zealand dairy sector has allowed it to grow its milk output from a level of approximately five billion litres in 1984 to almost 20bn litres today.

The major dairy-producing regions of Europe, of which Ireland features prominently, are in line to grow significantly in the coming years, barring crises or unforeseen circumstances in the global economy. Other countries have coal and steel, oil and gas, minerals and forestry. Ireland is not endowed with these natural resources. It has, however, green gold growing in its fields. The Irish grass-based agriculture model is the envy of the world, especially in an era of price volatility all along the food chain, from inputs to finished products.

This dynamic Irish dairy sector is based on a simple, sustainable idea: to retain a link to the natural grass growth cycle of the seasons, to build a processing sector to match the growth cycle as opposed to overriding it. This matters to consumers, this matters for environmental sustainability at a time when this is at the top of the agenda; above all, this matters to farmers, as it is built to reflect their natural practices.

Each year until 2030, at least 150m people will be entering the middle-class, bringing almost 60% of the world’s population into a middle income bracket. Around the world, diets are changing with animal products, particularly dairy products, becoming a feature on the global kitchen table, from Shanghai to Johannesburg and from Abu Dhabi to Seoul.

In China alone, demand for dairy is set to grow by 43% by 2019. To meet the pace of development, the predicted rate of dairy growth cannot afford to slow.

There are bumps in the road ahead, but we must remain vigilant and proactive to meet the concerns of those who feel threatened by the new environment. It is for this reason that the EU Common Agricultural Policy deploys Direct Payments through Pillar I of the CAP to cushion the effects of price volatility in a market-based model. Payments to Irish dairy farmers from the EU budget amount to an average cushion of 3c/litre of milk. The Rural Development Programme offers enormous opportunities for farmers to modernise and upgrade their farm operations to become more competitive and more productive, in a sustainable and efficient manner. The EU global promotion budget will more than triple over the next three years to €200m to help access growing new markets across the world. Aids for private storage and intervention will continue to remain a final backstop for extreme volatility and crisis situations, as is the case with the Russian embargo.

We have put in place the milk market observatory for a close monitoring of the market. My services are already working on a system to present market variables in the form of indicators, so that the market situation and its trends can be easily quantified at any moment.

Finally, the ties that bind farmers to their processors are of crucial importance for the continued viability, sustainability and prosperity of the dairy sector in Ireland and across the EU as a whole. I welcome moves by processors to offer forward guidance and certainty on the milk price to farmers, so that farmers can do what they do best – produce and invest for sustainable expansion, delivering jobs and growth to rural areas. The example given by Glanbia for a fixed price of 34.5c/litre, VAT-inclusive, for 2015, 2016 and 2017, sends all the right signals to farmers.

The Kerry Group has also announced a fixed-price system aimed at de-risking and bringing milk price stability. I am sure that others will follow suit and copperfasten the stability required for growth in the sector.

In the absence of production constraints, the Irish milk supply is expected to expand in the next five years up to 2020. This expansion will require significant investment on-farm, which may prove challenging in light of the current status of bank balance sheets. It is in this context that I have been working with the European Investment Bank to tailor a fund offering competitive finance over a 12 to 15-year horizon to farmers wishing to expand their dairy production.

We are now stepping forth into a new era for the European dairy sector. Like any change, it is fraught with risks and opportunities. As European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, I stand ready to help drive growth and jobs in the dairy sector, which by their nature will bring prosperity to rural areas.

The CAP is designed to help those whose farming models may be threatened by the post-quota environment. In the context of the global marketplace and the ebb and flow of geopolitics, I will continue to be highly vigilant to deploy the tools at hand to help the sector in times of need.