Sour mood over EU milk policies

There have been celebrations inside the European Parliament, but outside the mood was sour.

European milk producers and farmers descended on Strasbourg in a protest to coincide with the first session of the new parliament. The demonstrators are angry about falling prices. French Green MEP José Bove said: “The situation is very dramatic ….we are destroying the existing mechanism when it comes to milk quotas. That we allow the food industry to buy milk below the cost of production is in sharp contrast with what the European Common Agricultural Policy should actually be delivering.” The protest was organised by the European Milk Board and included producers from numerous European countries. Blockades in Belgium on Monday coincided with a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels.

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