09.08.2013

Furious French poultry farmers have smashed 200,000 eggs outside a tax office and supermarkets in Brittany in protest at low prices they blame on the European Union.
Egg producers insist their profits have been slashed following an EU directive passed last year aimed at protecting the wellbeing of hens. Since the new EU animal welfare law was passed in 1999, many poultry farmers had to invest in constructing bigger cages for egg-laying hens. To compensate for that investment, farmers decided to boost production, leading to oversupply
A group of 20 egg producers in the north-west region of France is now intent in destroying eggs to reduce supply and push up the price.
Farmers wearing masks hurled crates containing 100,000 eggs from the backs of lorries at supermarkets in the Côtes d’Armor.
Then the night after they smashed pallets of another 100,000 eggs outside a tax office in Carhaix.
The destruction of 100,000 eggs a day equates to 5 percent of the production of the poultry farmers involved in the collective.
Egg wholesale prices in France have fallen by over 37% from June 2012 to June 2013, according to data provided by the European Commission. The cost of producing the eggs is now 30% higher than the selling price, meaning farmers lose money.
The European Union had 15 to 20 million excess laying hens out of a total of 350 million.