The EU targets grain stocks and futures markets

Dacian Ciolos, the European Agriculture Commissioner, during and interview with Ouest France newspaper on 14 September 2010, said “three million tonnes of cereals are effectively available to intervene in the market [...] it's not a huge amount but it will enable us to act when the time comes.” The EU is thus considering putting its grain stocks on the market in order to attenuate a new surge in world prices. This statement comes in response to the recent surge in wheat prices which hit global markets following the drought in Russia, the embargo on Russian wheat exports and the speculative fever that followed.

When asked about the eventuality of regulating futures markets, Dacian Ciolos indicated that plans were being made for "control measures for derivative markets by integrating commodities”. "Withdrawing the principle of anonymity for the players" intervening in these futures markets "is under consideration by the Commission” he said.

The remarks made by Dacian Ciolos demonstrate a real step forward: the European Union is beginning to seriously think about implementing structural measures, both on physical markets (stocks of food) and on financial markets (regulating futures markets), in order to improve the control of volatility in agricultural commodities. Remember that in early September, a letter co-signed by Bruno Le Maire, Christine Lagarde and Jean-Louis Borloo, urged Brussels to take urgent measures in terms of regulation. France’s requests therefore, have not gone unheeded.