According to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party), Finland wants to ensure that in the forthcoming EU reforms of agricultural policy there will still be a platform for the continued production of milk, beef, and potatoes in the country.
Milk quotas are to be phased out according to current EU plans by 2015.
Finland would like to see the quotas preserved in order to ensure continued domestic production.
Within the EU there is a growing strong majority view among member states that backs the Commission’s proposals to do away with the quotas.
Vanhanen calmed the fears of the farming population - which represents a sizeable share of his party’s support in the country - at an agricultural policy seminar on Wednesday.
He noted that in several previous reforms the same pattern had emerged of advance worries and uncertainties, before the solutions were ironed out at the last minute.
“We have had experience of previous rounds. It is worthwhile retaining a decent level of confidence that Finland will be able to continue its production into the future”, Vanhanen.assured his audience.
Finnish officials intend to plead once again the policy line that it should be possible to conduct production in all areas of the Union, even in regions such as Finland, where the conditions for production fall short of the mean.
Vanhanen added that he had regularly spoken on behalf of Finnish agriculture with his European Union colleagues at prime ministerial level.
