Following its nine-month examination of regulatory measures that could contribute to stabilising the dairy market, the High Level Group on Milk presented, on 15 June, seven recommendations with a view to strengthening the position of producers within the sector, in particular by promoting contractual relations and strengthening the collective bargaining power of producers.

Composed of experts from member states and chaired by Jean-Luc Demarty, director-general of the European Commission’s DG Agriculture, this high level group was set up in October 2009, at the height of the milk crisis, to examine mid-term and long-term arrangements for the dairy sector given the expiry of dairy quotas by 2015. Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos indicated that he would study in detail the report by the group, with a view to coming forward with legislative proposals before the end of the year: "My main aim is that we consider medium to long-term measures, which address the lessons learned from last year's crisis aimed at better structuring the sector as a whole".

The group, whose recommendations will be presented to EU agriculture ministers in July, wants to promote – via guidelines or a legislative proposal – the use of formal written contracts (covering price, volume, timing and duration), made in advance, to cover deliveries of raw milk. These contracts may be made compulsory by member states. The group also invites the Commission to consider setting up provisions to allow producer organisations to negotiate jointly their contract terms, including price, with a dairy. It also asks the Commission to examine the possibility of transposing into the dairy sector current provisions for interprofessional organisations in the fruit and vegetables sector. To improve transparency in the supply chain, from producer to consumer, the group proposes developing monitoring tools, making particular use of the services of the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat.

The experts also suggest the use of market support measures and futures compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organisation ('green box') in order to reduce income volatility. Moreover, the Commission is invited to consider the feasibility of different options for 'place of farming' labelling for dairy products and should seek distinct labelling for imitation dairy products. Lastly, the experts recommend an improvement in communicating existing possibilities for innovation and research within the existing framework of rural development and research framework programmes.