Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, has been put before Parliament a series of measures in the campaign to help the dairy industry launched by Commission. The aim is that the milk producers of the European Union to emerge from the crisis plaguing the market.

This package is part of the report which the Commission published with objectives until 2010.

Short term measures:

• Member States may grant aid to producers temporarily up to 15 000 euros under the so-called crisis frame.
• To implement section 186 of the common organization of the single market, which empowers the Commission to intervene urgently in the event of market disruption.
• Modify the operation of the quota buy-back mechanisms of Member States. The Commission proposes that the repurchased shares to be deposited to the national reserve are not counted within the national quota but used for restructuring purposes.

Sizes medium and long term:

Create a working group with experts from Member States and Commission, to examine in detail a number of issues including:

• The possibility of establishing a legal framework for contractual relations between producers and dairies, to balance the supply and market demand, without affecting competition.
• The report's conclusions on the functioning of the food chain in the dairy sector the Commission has promised to submit by the end of the year.
• The creation of a futures market in the European dairy sector if it helps to improve the transparency of prices in the long term.
• The means of disseminating good practices in relation to production costs and innovation throughout the European dairy sector.