29 June 2016

1 minute read

The ministers said more measures were needed to help them them with the difficult current market situation and improve sustainability of the most affected sectors.

At the end of the meeting the presidency drew conclusions in which it calls upon the Commission to put forward in July, a set of measures which are both able to ease the current market pressure and are compatible with existing budgetary constraints.

Martijn van Dam, Dutch minister for agriculture and President of the Council, said: "Despite the September and March packages of measures, the crisis in the dairy, pigmeat and fruit and vegetables sectors continues, due to a persistent imbalance between supply and demand.

"Farmers' incomes are negatively affected. The difficult situation is calling for additional measures as soon as possible, and we urged the Commission to present an additional financial package in July 2016."

The Council also set out a series of initiatives to reduce waste and losses in the future, as every year nearly a third of all the food is lost or wasted.

These measures include calls on member states and the Commission to improve monitoring and data collection to better understand the problem, to focus on preventing food waste and losses and enhancing the use of biomass in future EU legislation, and to facilitate the donation of unsold food products to charities.

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