Europe's dairy farmers are preparing for the end of three decades of milk quotas on Wednesday with a mixture of excitement and foreboding, with critics fearful the move will destroy a key tenet of the EU’s agricultural policy, reports FRANCE 24.
Farmers in the EU’s 28 member states will be allowed to churn out as much milk as they want as of April 1, a move northern European countries have hailed as a chance to cash in on growing global demand.
Dairy producers in Ireland’s Tipperary will be throwing a party, with full orchestra and a milking machine, to mark the occasion. The government has announced plans to boost milk output by 50 percent by 2020.
Dutch and German farmers are also ramping up production. But many farmers in France, Europe's second-biggest milk producer behind Germany, say they prefer to wait for demand to pick up before gambling with higher output.
France’s dairy industry, which employs some 200,000 people, fears the sudden flood of extra milk will cause prices to collapse, undermining decades of EU policy aimed at guaranteeing farmers’ livelihoods.
Bolstering prices – at a hefty cost for the EU – has long been a cornerstone of the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and no country has defended the principle more fiercely than France, widely regarded as its chief beneficiary.
With the CAP's launch in 1962, generous subsidies encouraged ever greater output – but market demand was left out of the equation. Soon Europe was drowning in excess dairy products, which the EU was compelled to purchase in order to save farmers from bankruptcy.
The infamous “milk lakes” and “butter mountains” of unsold dairy products led to the introduction of quotas in 1984. Fines slapped on farmers who breached the quotas prompted angry protests, including milk being poured on motorways, public squares and the steps of parliament.
Some countries opted to pay yearly fines rather than cap output. Germany, the chief offender, has exceeded the quotas 21 times in 30 years, paying a total of €2 billion in penalties.
Others, including France’s numerous small, family-run businesses, felt protected by the quota system, which offered price stability and a minimum income.