Robert Sturdy

Robert Sturdy has welcomed the commitment from the European Commission to phase out milk quotas.

Mr Sturdy, an Agriculture Committee member, believes it is crucial to radically rethink Europe’s milk market. Milk quotas were introduced in 1984 to try and stop over-production in Europe.

The Commission is presently committed to increasing milk quotas every year ahead of eliminating them altogether in 2015.

However, as a result of low milk prices over the last couple of months, the Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has come under increased pressure to reverse her previous decision and introduce market distorting measures, such as export refunds and intervention stocks, in order to raise the milk price.

Mr Sturdy said:

“We cannot return the EU to butter mountains and milk lakes and the current situation shows just how misguided past policies on milk has been.

“I fully welcome the European Commission’s promise to eliminate milk quotas by 2015. Right now a pint of milk sells at nearly half the price of a litre of water; this is absurd. The present system we have in place has resulted in a milk industry far more vulnerable to price fluctuations.

“What we should be doing is liberalising the market and encouraging producers to find new and innovative methods of marketing their products. Instead of tightening the market further, we need to free milk producers from the straitjacket of quotas and ensuring their long term survival. That is the future of the industry.”

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