Reform of the EU's Dairy Regime – Options for the Key Players

Thirty years ago, Austria introduced the milk quota regime in order to throttle production and keep domestic producer prices at a high level. The members of what was then the European Economic Community followed down the same road in 1984. The European Commission plans to discontinue the milk regime after 2015. The paper discusses the options available to EU bodies, national agricultural policy decision-makers, dairy farmers and the dairy industry. The EU could prepare for a "soft exit" by extending the quota and facilitating trade ability. At national level, agricultural policy could help reduce the adaptation costs of affected operators within the scope of the rural development programme.