Speaking after the elections, Mr Roquefeuil said “Discussions today showed that dairy farmers across Europe are still facing low prices and cash flow difficulties, despite a constant improvement in dairy commodity prices in the past four months. We are therefore urging member states to make sure that support from the recently agreed 350 million € aid package reaches farmers as soon as possible”.
“EU milk production has meanwhile dropped by 2% in June compared to the same time in 2015 and by 1.4% in July and it is expected to go down further until the rest of the year. At world level, this is also the case in three of the four main milk producing regions”, he added.
“At world and EU level, dairy commodity prices have been picking up with EU butter prices seeing a significant recovery since June, being close to 2013 levels. Overall, dairy commodity prices have seen an increase of 20% on average. World demand has been dynamic, also due to demand from China. I believe that dairy farmers should start to see improvements in their milk price soon”, he said.
“During my two year mandate, I will work together with the Vice-Chairmen with the ambition of having a dynamic and profitable dairy sector in the EU. In the upcoming debate on the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), we aim to identify key challenges facing the dairy sector and find efficient and workable tools to address these challenges”, he stressed.
Mr Roquefeuil from the French Farm Organisation FNSEA works on a dairy farm in the Lot district (South-West France) and has presided over the National Federation of Dairy Producers (FNPL) since 2012. He has also been Vice-chairman of Copa and Cogeca Working Party on Milk and Dairy Products since 2014. He is also President of the French interbranch dairy organisation CNIEL. He will be supported by two Vice-Chairmen Tommaso Mario Abrate, ACI, Italy and Dorota Smigielska, FBZPR, Poland.
