Summary Notes for Rome Meeting, August 2003
Under the chairmanship of Mr. A. Aumaitre, President of EAAP, the EAAP
Working Group "Business Support Information Network for the Cattle Sector"
held its 1st meeting on 31 August 2003 in Rome, Italy.
38 participants from 19 countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia,
Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Switzerland, United Kingdom) attended the meeting.
The majority of participants welcomed the initiative of the former partners
in the EU funded BABROC Project establish a permanent structure for the
exchange of business information in the cattle sector.
The meeting reviewed the state and perspectives of cow milk and beef
production and consumption in Europe. It also took note of the functions and
activities of COPA-COGECA as representative bodies working with the system
of the European Union.
Participants noted that the milk production has been stable in the whole of
Europe, with modest increase in former transition countries from Central and
Eastern Europe which took place in recent few years. The number of dairy
farms and the number of dairy cows was declining while the milk production
per cow and the number of cows per farm was under constant increase.
The beef sector, in spite of negative impact of BSE and other crises, was
showing signals of recovery. Since the major part of beef is produced by
dairy herds, the decline in number of cows and the expected slight increase
in consumption might cause deficit of beef in the EU area in the short to
medium term. The similar situation might be expected in other European
countries, majority of which are net importer of beef.
Participants were of the view that the implementation of CAP in newly
admitted states of the European Union would lead to the further
concentration of cows on intensive farms, increase in productivity and the
consequent shortage of beef.
Farmers in these countries need assistance in restructuring their farms so
as to attain the level of productivity with the rest of EU. This includes
also the necessary conversion from dairy to beef farming.
The Working Group requested the EAAP Council to initiate the establishment
of a comparative monitoring system with a view of collecting information on
economic efficiency of cattle operations in various production systems. This
should contribute to the better knowledge of the impact of various national
and Community measures on beef and milk sectors and assist representatives
of producers' organisations in representing interests of producers at the
appropriate fora.
It also requested the EAAP Secretariat to inform the COPA-COGECA on the
establishment of the Cattle Network and on its Terms of Reference and
programmes. Findings and the recommendations of the Network will be brought
to the attention of the appropriate bodies of COPA-COGECA, as required.
Participants agreed to promote the use of the virtual auction produced by
the Slovak Partner of the BABROC Project. In this connection, they welcomed
improvements made in the original programme presented in January 2003 in
Berlin.
The meeting supported the Terms of Reference as approved by the EAAP
Council.
It requested the EAAP Secretariat to investigate the possibility of managing
the website of the Network. The website should contain business information
from the members of the Network, that is cattle breeders and producers
associations from the EAAP Member Countries. It should serve as a base for
the development of the direct commercial and professional contacts between
members of the Network Its development and the future use, including the
direct access of individual farmers and other economic agents in the cattle
sector, will be decided upon by members of the Network.
The meeting nominated Ms. Donata Uchockiene (Lithuania) and Messrs. M. Meers
(Belgium), J.N. Bonnet (France), K. S. Schaeffer (Germany) and O. Kadlecik
(Slovakia) as members of the Steering Board of the Network. The Board will
prepare a programme of activities and monitor the use of the website. The
EAAP Council will nominate the chairperson of the Network in consultation
with the members of the Board.
Participants requested the EAAP Secretariat to prepare the Summary Notes of
the First Meeting and to distribute it to participants for their comments
and approval.
See also:
Summary report on the 2nd
meeting of the Cattle Network (Paris, 2004)
