The European Parliament’s agriculture committee and European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski held an exchange of views on mechanisms brought in by the Commission to aid farmers in the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the debate, Independent MEP Luke Ming Flanagan asked whether the European Commission would consider the idea of a production reduction scheme in the dairy sector.

The Midlands-Northwest representative asked: “What consideration was given to production reduction? Because we have done that a couple of years ago, there have been reports suggesting that it was a big success and that maybe it might be, along with intervention, obviously we might need some intervention, but would you consider the idea of production reduction?

“The last time this was done it actually worked.”

Supports

The Commissioner said consideration was being given to possible supplementary or correctional measures but gave no further details.

A production reduction scheme in the dairy sector was last introduced following the Russian ban on EU products in 2015.

Instead, he focused his time on responding to criticism that the €76m made available for private storage aid of beef, dairy and sheepmeat was insufficient.

A number of MEPs also raised concerns about the lack of support for the wine and flower sectors.

Commissioner Wojciechowski stressed that the budget available was limited and that all sectors were facing difficulties in what was an unprecedented crisis.

Protectionism

The Polish politician was also robustly challenged by Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness on his suggestion that not enough was being done to support local markets for produce.

“I think the major problems that are being faced by those sectors which depend on the imported ingredients such as feed, for example, and then the markets they sell on are distant markets, they're not local,” Wojciechowski said.

Looking for clarity on his latest reference to local markets, McGuinness said: “To me and to my ears that sounds like economic patriotism... Because when you talk about local markets, I worry that you are talking about protectionism and you are not looking at the opportunities.”

The Commissioner needed to make sure that European produce such as beef and dairy got on to the international market as part of the EU’s emergency response, she said.

Wojciechowski defended his position and said there was no contradiction between being concerned about local markets and at the same time wanting to develop exports.

He said local markets had been neglected in the past, but, for certain, farmers and member states exports would remain important.