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Some EU member states want private dairy storage
Some European member states, led by Hungary, want the European Commission to authorize private storage of dairy products. Hungary wants to be able to store milk powder and cheese as soon as possible to reduce market pressure.
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European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen is not opposed to the request, but he wants to first conduct a study on its usefulness and necessity, as he indicated during the European Agriculture Council meeting held last week. Nine other member states agree. These countries (Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia) are almost all from Eastern and Southern Europe, although France is also in favor.
Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy is pushing for private storage, as the dairy market is currently under considerable pressure. Prices for products like butter, milk powder, and cheese have fallen rapidly, causing milk prices for farmers to plummet.
Private storage should not be confused with intervention. In the latter, the European Commission purchases products. They are then also stored, but as property of the Commission. When the market recovers, the product is resold. With private storage, the products remain the property of the producer or trader.
De price Prices for various dairy products have fallen sharply, but they have not yet reached the intervention level. For skimmed milk powder, the intervention level is €1.694 per tonne, and for butter, it is €2.217 per tonne. There is no intervention for cheese.
Dairy products were last included in intervention in 2020.