Ireland is one of seven EU governments facing fines amounting to a combined €340 million for exceeding milk production quotas, with Italy again the main culprit, the European Commission said today.
Italy accounted for almost half of the overrun in the 2007/2008 season and has been fined €160.6 million as a result of exceeding its delivery quota by 5.7 per cent. Germany was responsible for 30 per cent of the overrun and has been fined €101.7 million.
Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Netherlands all exceeded their delivery quotas and are also expected to be fined.
Draft figures drawn up by the Commission showed the levies covered a total EU milk surplus of 1.22 million tonnes, against a fixed quota for deliveries to dairies of 139.6 million tonnes.
Italy, which has often complained its EU milk quota has been set too low, called the situation "scandalous".
"Italy has asked to increase its quota by 1 million tonnes a year and will continue to ask for it until this scandalous situation is changed," a spokesman for Italy's agriculture minister said.
Draft figures drawn up by the Commission showed the levies covered a total EU milk surplus of 1.22 million tonnes, against a fixed quota for deliveries to dairies of 139.6 million tonnes.
Last year's combined milk quota fine, known in EU jargon as the superlevy, came to around €221 million -- much lower.
"The total levy to be paid is substantially higher in 2007/2008 than in 2006/2007 because adjusted deliveries increased more in some countries than the respective national quotas," the Commission said in a statement.
"This was most notable in Cyprus, Germany, and the Netherlands," it said.
If an EU country produces milk beyond its fixed quota, the mechanism used to balance supply and demand in each member state, farmers in that country must pay a fine levied at a base rate multiplied by each kilogram of quota surplus.
There are two types of milk quotas for each EU country -- one for deliveries to dairies and one for direct sales to consumers, and these quotas are further shared among farmers.
The superlevy dates from 1984 and was designed to dissuade countries from exceeding annual milk production quotas.
EU milk quotas are due to be phased out in 2014/15.
Additional reporting: Reuters