Croatia is set to join the EU very soon. This step represents opportunities as well as significant risks for Croatian milk producers. The European Milk Board’s dairy farmers and their fellow Croatian farmers discussed this during an international conference in Croatia and pointed up ways for a successful entry into the EU. It was also decided to stage a major demonstration in November in Brussels.
(Tuheljske Toplice, 25.10.2012) For three days this year’s annual Members’ Meeting of the European Milk Board (EMB), the European umbrella association of dairy farmers’ organisations in Europe, has been held in Tuheljske Toplice, Croatia. The climax of the Members’ Meeting, which ends today, was an international conference on “Milk production in Croatia: opportunities and risks of joining the EU”.
More than anything it was the current milk market situation in the EU, with prices not covering milk producers’ costs, that aroused concern. This concern is also reflected in the statements of Romuald Schaber, President of the EMB, on the situation in Croatia. “To be honest, I don’t know whether to congratulate our Croatian friends on joining the EU. For the drastic situation is driving more and more of our fellow farmers to financial ruin and, in some cases, to worse. The only possible remedy is effective control of volumes through a European monitoring agency for the milk markets. I am counting on the active support of our Croatian colleagues as EMB members and very soon partners in the EU”, said Romuald Schaber.
Hrvatski Savez Udruga Proizvodava Mlijeka (HSUPM) backs this position wholeheartedly as the EMB member organisation in Croatia. It further calls for an improvement in methods of payment with agricultural loans, full-cost studies on Croatian milk production and a straightforward legalisation of the ownership of production facilities. Only in this way could the financial situation of Croatian milk producers be improved before Croatia joins the European Single Market. HSUPM also announced that it will participate in a major EMB demonstration taking place on November 26th and 27th in Brussels.
