Wednesday 5th August, 2015
GROWING
CONCERN ABOUT PRICES IS AN
EU WIDE ISSUE FOR FARMERS SAYS MAIREAD MCGUINNESS
MEP
has written to Chair of Ag Committee to address issue at European level
With growing concern across the EU about commodity prices
and farmers set to protest in Brussels on September 7th, Fine Gael
MEP for Roscommon and Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead
McGuinness, has called for a debate at the earliest opportunity on the state of
agriculture markets.
“While the focus in Ireland is on the dairy market,
across the EU there is concern about falling prices for fruit and veg, pork,
beef and dairy.
“The situation has escalated with farmers in Belgium,
France and the UK taking direct action amid concerns about farm viability.
“It’s imperative that these issues are addressed at EU
level to avoid a situation where EU farmers from different member states are
pitted against each other and are acting in isolation from each other rather
than having a shared interest in tackling these issues,” she said.
“The Russian embargo, uncertainty in the Chinese market,
trends in global agriculture all impact on EU farmers and this needs to be
acknowledged as a first step.”
“Commodity
price volatility is a reality but the tools to deal with it at farm level are
lacking.
“When
prices collapse, farm incomes take a hammering,”
she warned.
Ms McGuinness has written to the Chair of the agriculture committee Czesław Adam
Siekierski on the issue urging him to convene a special meeting of
the committee at the earliest opportunity.
“The
chairman has already expressed his concerns about the situation and I believe
he will respond to my call in a positive way,” she added.
Further
information:
Mairead McGuinness,
MEP
Tel. 087-2591829
