SNP MEP on milk 'rescue package'
2009-10-23
"There is no doubting that Europe's dairy farming is in crisis, but 'we must do something, this is something, therefore we must do this' is a bad logic which we see all too often in EU politics. Unlike the majority of the Parliament, I'm proud that my group took the longer view and rejected these flawed proposals which I truly fear will do little than generate a cheap headline but not actually fix anything at all."
The
Parliament backed European Commission proposals to include milk and
dairy products in the 'Common Market Organisation' thereby giving
hugely increased power to the European Commission to intervene in the
milk market, as a condition for an additional 280million euro to be
returned to member state governments ostensibly to assist milk
producers through the current downturn, though without any guarantees
this will actually be the purpose. The Commission proposal also now
replaces the previously agreed Milk Fund, which was in any case due to
come into force in January, was designed to directly assist producers
and did not involve giving any power to the Commission.
Smith, and the Green European
Free Alliance Group, voted against the proposals on the grounds that
the European Commission has in fact created the crisis by a combination
of misguided or tardy action and inaction in the face of clear data the
sector is in crisis. The European Commission is as much to blame for
the crisis as anything else and to massively increase its powers in
this way is more likely to exacerbate the problems of the sector long
term. Similarly, there are no guarantees over what the 280million will
actually be used for, with many member states having already said they
will use the funds for purposes other than direct aid, and attempts by
the group to guarantee that the funds would reach farmers were
similarly rejected. The vote is all the more illogical given that with
the advent of the Lisbon Treaty the Parliament will gain co-decision
powers, and the parliament has already approved a 300million milk fund
which will commence in January 2010 but have none of the strings
attached the Commission proposal involved.
Smith said:
"This was blackmail of the worst
sort from the Commission, and it is a shame that a number of my
colleagues happily caved in for the sake of a quick headline.
"Essentially the proposal was
'give us more power and we'll free up the cash now, even though it is
less than you have already allocated to start in two months time' and
it is regrettable that so many in the Parliament went for the short
term headline rather than the long term sustainability of Europe's
dairy sector. As sure as eggs are eggs we'll see this money put to
several other uses than supporting farming, the sector will continue to
struggle and the Commission having more powers is no guarantee at all
that they will use them sensibly. The member state ministers have not
even met yet to decide how they will divvy up their booty.
"There is no doubting that Europe's dairy farming is in crisis, but 'we must do something, this is something, therefore we must do this' is a bad logic which we see all too often in EU politics. Unlike the majority of the Parliament, I'm proud that my group took the longer view and rejected these flawed proposals which I truly fear will do little than generate a cheap headline but not actually fix anything at all."
