04/12/2009

Milk: Agreement reached on distribution of additional €300 million for dairy farmers

Member States voted yesterday in favour of a Commission proposal to divide up an additional €300 million in aid for EU dairy farmers. The money will be distributed according to production within quota in the 2008/09 milk production season (April 2008-March 2009). The money will have to be allocated to individual farmers who are severely affected by the low dairy prices of this summer and who encounter liquidity problems. Member States will have to communicate before the end of February the objective criteria they will use to allocate the money to individual farmers. The money has to be paid before the end of June 2010. The money is divided up as follows (in million euros): BE 7.21, BG 1.84, CZ 5.79, DK 9.86, DE 61.20, EE 1.30, IE 11.50, EL 1.58, ES 12.79, FR 51.13, IT 23.03, CY 0.32, LV 1.45, LT 3.10, LU 0.60, HU 3.57, MT 0.08, NL 24.59, AT 6.05, PL 20.21, PT 4.08, RO 5.01, SL 1.14, SK 2.03, FI 4.83, SE 6.43, UK 29.26.