The regulation of the milk sector: need drives the law.

In regard of the strong price deterioration in the milk sector the European Commission decided on January 15 to reintroduce export restitutions, thereby going exactly against the deregulation it used to put forward until then. Under the pressure of a growing international offer and the slowing-down of demand ( on average prices decreased by 50% in one year), Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture decided to « immediately act in favour of a rigorous economic revival plan », as she says in a press release.

Through export restitutions, which should be added to the resumption of milk products purchases announced by the Commission last November, the European Union intends to refund the difference between European prices and lower ones on international markets. These measures indicate the return of traditional intervention mechanisms and go against the deregulating movement following the CAP’s health check-up.

Let’s hope that the European Commission’s understanding, dictated by a sector in crisis, will also apply to all agricultural sectors if necessary, even if imbalances are not so striking today. Once again, the milk sector is a “case study”: let’s not wait for unquestionable crisis situations to define appropriate regulatory policies.