The EU must come up with more decisive actions to deliver fast relief to farmers in the worst-hit sectors, such as dairy and livestock, MEPs told EU Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, in a debate on the ongoing crisis.
They also called for structural reforms to better balance the supply chain, ensure fairer income for farmers and assist them to become more resilient to market shocks.
He said he was pleased to confirm the Commission adopted three draft Regulations.
The first, doubling the intervention ceilings for skimmed milk powder and butter.
The Commission has also activated regulations that allow producer organisations to plan milk production for a period of six months, and extended the regulations’ scope to include co-ops and other organisations.
Many MEPs criticised the Commission for doing too little, too late to solve the worst agriculture crisis in recent decades.
Some insisted that more market interventions were needed, including at least a temporary regulation of supply, while others, claiming an attempt to liberalise the EU's agriculture had failed, advocated further market regulation and incentives for farmers to voluntarily cut production.
Several MEPs also warned national attempts to solve the crisis had proven ineffective and warned against “renationalising” EU farm policy.
Some also voiced concerns about the international trade agreements that the EU is now negotiating and insisted that EU farm policy must not be used as a bargaining chip at expense of EU farmers.
Hogan said recently many links are 'currently broken' in the food supply chain.
"Prices are currently very low and it is difficult to produce under these circumstances.
"EU food chain faces many opportunities but also many challenges.
"Globalisation, which can benefit us from a trade point of view, can also have the negative effect of concentrating bargaining power in the hands of the food processing and retail sectors.
"For this reason, we need to work together to improve the functioning of the food chain.
"This is a responsibility we must take seriously."
He said many important trade opportunities had been opened but also exposed the food chain to greater market instability and volatility.
"We have lately seen this effect, in particular in the dairy and pigmeat sectors.
"The role and position of farmers in the supply chain continues to be of great concern to me."
