Dairy farmers protest in Brussels as farm ministers meet – raw video by EUX.TV

Several hundred European dairy farmers on Monday staged a protest in Brussels calling for fair milk prices as European agriculture ministers were meeting. About a dozen tractors with farmers mostly from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands made their way to the Schuman roundabout in the heart of the European quarter. According to a background note on the ministerial meeting, farm ministers were due to discuss a report produced by the EU’s ‘High Level Group on Milk. The meeting was due to finish after lunch. The.EU expert group last month drummed up seven recommendations to stabilise the dairy market and ensure a fair income for producers. The experts last month called on the Commission to draft either guidelines or a legislative proposal covering contractual relations between milk producers and milk processors. Formal written contracts regarding the price, volume and timing of deliveries of raw milk and the duration of contracts must be further developed, they say. Member states could make use of these contracts compulsory, the group stresses. Such ‘contractualisation’ at EU level between producers of agricultural commodities and industry is not currently possible. Read more at: www.euractiv.com