Solutions for price volatility

Last week MEPs in the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee approved a report suggesting solutions to help farmers deal with price volatility.

Led by French MEP Angélique Delahaye (European People’s Party), the report acknowledges that the current CAP, although providing an important first line of defence in the form of direct payments, can do much more to help farmers stay competitive in the face of volatile global markets. The report supports tools such as payments for farmers at times of low prices and more opportunities to manage risk through futures markets.

Importantly the report also outlines how legislation can improve farmers’ position in the supply chain by giving them more bargaining power and better contractual terms to ensure fair returns. Key to the success of many of the measures is accurate, timely and transparent price reporting so that the market situation is fully clear to all parties. The dossier reflects many asks of the UK farming unions and it is expected to feed positively into the Brussels policy agenda as negotiations on future farm support ramp up. The report should be finally signed off by all MEPs in mid-December.

Juncker confirms stalemate on TTIP

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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last week acknowledged there would be no deal on a potential trade deal with the United States in the next two years.

Speaking in Berlin on Thursday, President Juncker called on President-Elect Donald Trump to provide clarity on his approach to global trade before admitting that both sides were now unlikely to make progress on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). “The trade deal with the United States, I do not view that as something that would happen in the next two years,” he said.