Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-373"
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ‘milk is good for you’ and today everyone is talking about it. Milk is the oldest energy drink in the world, it is a particularly important product, and it is good that we are debating it today. What we call the mini milk package, made up of three documents, is only one, albeit very important, building block in the further simplification of EU legislation in agriculture, and in principle the Commission’s reform and simplification measures in this connection are most welcome.
As we know, reforming the Common Agricultural Policy is a long-term, continuous process and the proposed mini milk package is a step in the right reform direction. Rome was not built in a day, however. The Commissioner knows that better than anyone.
I would like to address an important political aspect that some colleagues have already discussed: school milk. Here the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has called for an increase from EUR 16.11 to EUR 18.11 per 100 kg. That is a sensible correction and we were right to call for it. Perhaps we could now seriously consider a school fruit programme, which would probably also please the Commissioner’s colleague, Mr Kyprianou.
I also welcome the standardisation of the protein content of milk and milk production because it allows European producers to enter into fair competition with their third-country competitors, given that competition is a basic liberal concern. At the same time it is right, important and also urgently necessary for milk producers and dairies to pool their resources even more, so that it becomes even easier for them to assert their interests on the market. A good deal of work on the ground is still required here too.
Let me put forward an idea from the consumers’ point of view, and looking towards the future. The demand for milk has risen worldwide. It is particularly clear that living and eating habits are changing in Asia as a whole, i.e. demand is rising and prices are rising. It is a pity that the higher prices are attributable above all to trade. Yet we must also be honest with our citizens. To some extent the higher prices tell the environmental truth. For instance, it is not comprehensible that a litre of milk now costs less than a litre of water. Butter is cheaper now than it was 20 years ago. We certainly must tell the citizens that there are of course also some improvements. The money should remain in the sector, however, and not go to trade.
A word on the quota. Evidently we will still have the quota for some time. That has been debated here and the reasons for having that quota have been given. Yet the current milk quota must expire in March 2015, and not just for German farmers who could then profit from the rising global demand for milk and products. What the Commissioner said when she was thinking out loud of considering actually raising the quota could be taken to mean it needs removing. We should be honest here and call for its removal.
I thank Mrs Jeggle for what was, on the whole, a very good report. I wish the Commissioner all the best on the way to further reforms of the agricultural policy."@en1
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