Proposed withdrawal agreement welcomed by EU dairy sector

The proposed UK EU Withdrawal agreement which last night received the backing of the UK Government has been welcomed by the European Dairy Association (EDA).

In today’s Annual Convention of the EDA in Dublin, the association chair, Michel Nalet, acknowledged the effort of both negotiation teams to come to a withdrawal agreement.

“The European dairy industry is integrated across borders. This is especially true for the island of Ireland, but applies also to the rest of Europe.

“We therefore welcome the news that the UK and EU negotiators have reached a deal on the withdrawal agreement and on the political declaration on the future relationship between EU and UK.

“We have consistently called for both sides to avoid a no-deal situation and to ensure the closest possible future trading relationship.

“We now look to EU and UK leaders to sign off the agreement as quickly as possible to allow the EU and UK parliaments to ratify,” Nalet said.

With 700,000 dairy farms across the EU, 12,000 milk and processing sites, and more than 300,000 people working in the sector, the dairy sector is the industrial and societal backbone of rural Europe and beyond, according to the EDA.

Continuing, the chairperson added: “It is in the interest of the dairy industry and of the citizens as well in the union as in the United Kingdom, that this withdrawal agreement secures the free movement of milk and dairy products between the UK and the EU.

“We call now to the decision-makers on both sides to act responsibly,” Nalet concluded.