Danish pig farmers oppose calls to the European Commission for market intervention in the pig industry. The Danish pig farmers fear that their modern businesses will be disadvantaged if the EU supports their struggling competitors in other EU countries with subsidies and interventions.
Last week, several dozen Members of the European Parliament from almost all political groups in ten EU countries again asked Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski to support struggling pig farmers, for example by buying up and temporarily storing pigs and opening up new sales markets.
The two Dutch members of the AGRI Committee, Ruissen (SGP) and Schreijer-Pierik (CDA), also supported this call. Agricultural organizations such as LTO and COPA-Cogeca also advocate EU intervention, but the Dutch Minister of Agriculture Staghouwer opposes it.
The letter from the agriculture committee was drafted and signed by committee chairman Norbert Lins (EPP), with approval from politicians of nine of the ten political groups (only the Greens opposed it), but the letter was not formally adopted through a vote in the AGRI Committee.
Due to corona restrictions, swine fever, and high energy prices, especially small and medium-sized pig farms have significantly depleted their savings, the letter states. There is concern that in many EU countries the pig meat sector will disappear, leaving only a few large, strong exporting countries. Wojciechowski previously pointed out that three-quarters of the European pig meat market is controlled by just a few large companies.
The EU introduced similar targeted support measures in 2011, 2015, and 2016, but these had only a relatively small effect on prices, according to researchers at the Institute of Food and Resource Economics at the University of Copenhagen. According to the Danish pig industry, it would be better if the EU did not interfere with free market forces.
However, Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski made clear in a response that although several Eastern European countries request support for their pig industry, mainly the large pig-meat producing countries are against it, including the key producers such as Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland.
“These seven member states account for almost two-thirds of pig production in the EU and have not requested market measures. I think this is a clear sign and a signal I cannot ignore.”