§ Mr. Nicholas Bennettasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what have been the reductions in milk production in each in each European Community country since April 1984; and what estimate has been made of what further reductions need to be made in order to eliminate surplus production.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonMilk deliveries to dairies per member state in 1985–86 compared with 1983–84 are as follows:
'000 tonnes Member State 1983–84 1985–86 per cent, difference Germany 25,472 23,719 -6.9 France 26,247 25,770 -1.8 Italy 8,541 8,356 -2.2 Netherlands 12,929 12,287 -5.0 Belgium 3,269 3,260 -0.3 Luxembourg 282 294 +4.3 United Kingdom 16,786 15,613 -7.0 Ireland 5,436 5,588 +2.8 Denmark 5,280 4,900 -7.2 Greece 429 446 +4.0 Source: Eurostat.
Period: April–March.
Last autumn the European Commission estimated that a reduction in production of 9.5 million tonnes was required to restore balance to the dairy market. It is intended that 7 million tonnes of this should be achieved by the measures already imposed for this marketing year and the remaining 2.5 million tonnes by the further cuts agreed for 1988–89.