Rushed” law sees milk premium challenge fail

MILK PRODUCERS have failed in their bid to reverse government plans that will see the dairypremium cut to zero in England by 2012.

 The legal challenge, costing dairy farmer contributors tens of thousands of pounds in fees, was defeated after legislation was rushed through the Council of Ministers in Brussels.

 “Mrs Beckett has changed the law,” claimed farm consultant Charles Holt, who has co-ordinated the challenge through solicitor William Neville of Burges Salmon.

 “It was a blatant change of the rules of the game after the game had begun, and that was it – our case was holed below the waterline.”

Following advice from an expert in EU law, the challengers had hoped to prove that DEFRA was not allowed to include the dairy premium in the single farm payment. That decision which would mean the premium was reallocated among all English farmers as the regional area payment replaced historical entitlements.

 They also argued that the premium was specifically intended to compensate dairy farmers for intervention price cuts, and its reallocation would disadvantage English milk producers compared to their supported competitors.

 “William Neville and our barrister were convinced that our case was cast-iron and copper-bottomed when it was lodged on January 14. But two weeks later, the EU Commission passed regulation 118/2005, which has the effect of allowing member states to add all payments into the single farm payment.”

DEFRA waited nearly 10 weeks before replying to the letter from the challengers. A DEFRA official wrote that the new legislation merely clarified existing CAP reform rules, whose intention all along had been to allow the dairy premium to be redistributed through the regional area payment. Sam Fortescue