Milk quotas are unlikely to remain in place after 2013, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel said in Cavan yesterday at the beginning of a private visit to Ireland.
She told a press conference in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, that, from her point of view, there should be no expectation on behalf of farmers that milk quotas would continue after 2013 when the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) ends.
She said the most important point in agriculture was predictability and politicians should be brave enough to say what they thought was necessary for the future.
While the matter would have to be discussed by the council of farm ministers when reviewing the CAP, it was her view that there should be no expectation that quotas can continue after 2013.
"With that clear message, hopefully from a unanimous council of ministers, then farmers can say we have to adapt to a system where quotas are no longer there," the commissioner said.
She added that if this was the decision of the council, then farmers could adapt to that position and make plans. "That would give time from 2008 to 2009 . . . for farmers to adapt or get out of the industry and plan for the future. Planning and predictability is a key factor in farming and in business." The commissioner defended the recent reforms and said that although farmers were loath to admit it, beef prices for instance, had risen by 10 per cent.
On the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the commissioner said that no matter whether or not there was a deal in agriculture, Irish farmers would be living in a very competitive world.
"The only solution to this competition is quality, quality, quality. That is the only way that European agriculture can survive. We cannot hope to compete with Brazil on a one-to-one basis," she said.
The commissioner said her preference was to find a WTO deal if Europe could stay within its mandate. She said Europe was forced to wait to negotiate a deal until after the mid-term elections in the US. "If the Republicans can maintain their power in the chambers, there should be a window of opportunity early next year," she said. She said if the Democrats gained control, a deal would be more difficult.
She said she did not want to see a partial or backdoor agreement forced on the Union by developing countries, as this would be much worse for EU states as there would be no method of disciplining US domestic supports or export credits used by the US. The commissioner will spend today in Donegal with Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan.