(2004/C 84 E/0679)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0488/04

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 February 2004)

Subject:   EU dairy sector: milk quotas and enlargement

Milk production subject to quotas will increase by 16 % in the EU following the accession of the eastern European countries. However, many of the new Member States do not have effective control over their production volumes.

How will the Commission guarantee that the accession of these countries will not lead to the appearance of ‘black’ milk on the European market, with repercussions on internal prices?

Does the Commission have any estimates of the repercussions which accession will have on Community milk prices in the short and medium term?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 March 2004)

All new Member States will apply the EU ‘acquis’ including the full quota regime from 1 May 2004. Only Poland and Slovenia have been granted a transitional period of one year, for the allocation of individual quotas, based on the Act of Accession.

Milk quotas will increase by 16 % in the EU following the accession of the new Member States. However, the internal market of the EU will expand by 20 % of new consumers. Due to continuous growth of family, income in the new Member States prospects of milk consumption remain positive, with significant growth for high value products like cheese and fresh products.

The present basic structure of the dairy industry in most new Member States is different from the one in the EU-15. It is characterised by a large semi-subsistence sector along with a high share of on-farm consumption and direct sales. New Member States will have full responsibility from the date of accession to execute all provisions on control issues set up in the ‘acquis’ including controls carried out at farm level, during transport of the milk and at dairy level. All milk that leaves the farm has to be registered either under the direct sales or delivery quota.

The Commission is monitoring the progress made by the new Member States to implement the milk quota system. Reports on Peer Review Missions carried out by the Commission in new Member States in 2002 and 2003 were quite positive, although it was stated that further work is still required. Therefore, certain transitional problems cannot be excluded.

As regards the impact of enlargement on the dairy industry in EU-25, the Commission has published a report based on statistical information available at the beginning of May 2003 (1). According to this report, production of butter after enlargement would decline (mainly in EU-15) from 2,16 million tonnes (t) in 2004 to 2,03 million tonnes in 2010. In the same period, cheese production would expand by 0,5 million tonnes (mainly in EU-15). Nevertheless, a persistent market surplus for butter and skimmilk powder (SMP) would cause prices for these products to remain at relatively low levels in EU-25. Average producer prices for milk would develop less positively than in EU-15 without enlargement. In the meantime, Council and Parliament took important decisions to reform the milk sector. The Commission is presently updating the report mentioned above to take those new developments into consideration.

(1)  Prospects for agricultural markets in the European Union. 2003-2010. European Commission, DG AGRI, June, 2003.