About 40,000 European dairy farmers are protesting against the low prices paid for the milk they produce. Belgian farmers are publicising their problems by dumping 3 million litres of milk on Wednesday afternoon.
Last week, French dairy farmers began the price protests and their colleagues in other EU countries are following suit this week. The farmers are blaming the European Commission for the dairy sector's problems.
The EC has raised the milk production quotas and wants to abolish the quota system altogether in 2015, abandoning the sector to market forces. More milk on the global market will lead to even lower prices.
On Thursday, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will present plans to the European parliament aimed at tackling the problems in the dairy sector.
Photo: Italian farmers dumping milk (European Milk Board)
Italian farmers dumping milk (European Milk Board)
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
Post new comment
Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.