FLORENCE, ITALY – The historical centre of Florence became a stable with cows and milk for a demonstration to defend Italian milk, cheese and ask to EU a fair price and the obligation of origin on the label.
The demonstration, promoted today (Friday February 6, 2015) by Coldiretti, reached 12 Italian cities. In piazza della Repubblica joined the “theatrical event” the Tuscan governor Enrico Rossi and the former Fiorentina champion Giancarlo Antognoni.
Agriculture group Coldiretti warned that about 180,000 Italian jobs, food security, and billions of euros could be at risk under the European Union’s system of milk quotas. In a new report, Coldiretti said that new fines from the European Commission are likely as production is on track to exceed its limits.
Those limits, Coldiretti said, have already led to the closure of some producers while foreign milk from Eastern Europe – described as “pre-processed industrial” products – are entered Italy, posing a health treat.
The European Commission last July ordered Italy to collect 1.395 billion euros of unpaid fines from farmers for violating milk quotas between 1995 and 2009. That move came after Brussels launched the first stage of infringement proceedings against Rome in relation to the violation in June 2013.
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