The NAT Commission meeting Roundtable on Market measures limiting milk production also included the presentation of the CoR study "Evaluation of the Market Responsibility Programme", chaired by Cllr Tony Buchanan 1st Vice-Chairof NAT. The MRP is a programme regulating the European milk-production sector, to be applied when the milk market is threatened by imbalance. By combining market surveillance tools with reactive intervention mechanisms, the programme detects crises and provides for a three-step action plan depending on the gravity of the crisis: storage, then voluntary reduction and sanctions in the event of non-compliance, then compulsory reduction for everyone.
During the debate Cllr Enda Stenson, EA Group coordinator for NAT commission underlined the very difficult situation of farmers in Ireland and in all Europe as dairy farmers are experiencing a serious and persistent crisis, and no response is forthcoming from the European Commission. He called for urgent need to assess the territorial impact of quota abolition and he called for a realistic evaluation of production, internal consumption and export prospects over the medium and long term. "EU agriculture ministers must take temporary measures to cap milk production in order to stabilise the market and ensure the survival of the European milk sector. Local and regional leaders, committed to saving jobs and the dairy industry as a whole, wanted to assess the feasibility and potential impact of the Market Responsibility programme" – he said.
