62 moreover, price developments must also be assessed in the light of international market developments and the price differential with the world market price must be reduced. the structural adjustment of the sector to new market opportunities is supported by rural development funding, while decoupled direct aid should help to secure farmers' income. as pointed out by the court in recommendation no 2, price formation at the retail level is a complex issue, with the cost of raw milk playing a limited role in the process. However, in order to provide better information to consumers, public authorities and market operators, permanent european monitoring of food prices and the supply chain was proposed in the commission communication 'food prices in europe' (com(2008) 821 final). replies of tHe commission recommendation no 2 a High level group2 on the competitiveness of the agro-food industry recently proposed a series of initiatives that the commission intends to implement during the coming months. these initiatives are part of the implementation of the roadmap to improve the functioning of the food supply chain that was presented by the commission at the end of 2008 in its communication 'food prices in europe' (com(2008) 821 final). among the five main components of the roadmap agreed by the council in december 2008 was permanent european monitoring of food prices and the supply chain. this monitoring tool should provide better information to consumers, public authorities and market operators and so address the lack of transparency of prices and improve the knowledge of the impact of regulation along the food supply chain. the commission will present a follow-up report on this roadmap at the end of 2009. in addition, a fast-track survey of dairy markets was recommended to the european competition network food sub-group meeting in early july 2009, to stimulate 2 the main role of the High level group (chaired by one of the commission vice-presidents with the participation of the commissioners responsible for agriculture and rural development, consumer protection and Health, was to provide advice to the european commission with a view to enhancing and promoting leadership of the european agro-food industry. it was designed to provide a political momentum for the process and a platform for discussion on sector-specific recommendations (but not to follow the dynamics between producer and consumer prices). the group aims to bring together key stakeholders in the food industry. representation was at the highest level. special report no 14/2009 – Have the management instruments applied to the market in milk and milk products achieved their main objectives? 
62 dessutom måste prisutvecklingen också bedömas mot bakgrund av utvecklingen på den internationella marknaden, och prisskillnaden jämfört med världsmarknadspriset måste minskas. sektorns strukturella anpassning till de nya marknadsmöjligheterna stöds genom medel för landsbygdsutveckling, medan frikopplat direktstöd torde bidra till att trygga jordbrukarnas inkomster. liksom revisionsrätten framhöll i rekommendation nr 2 är prisbildningsprocessen på återförsäljarnivå en komplex fråga, eftersom kostnaden för obehandlad mjölk har begränsad betydelse i denna process. för att ge konsumenterna, de offentliga myndigheterna och marknadsaktörerna bättre information föreslogs dock en permanent europeisk övervakning av livsmedelspriserna och leverantörskedjan i kommissionens meddelande livsmedelspriser i europa (kom(2008) 821 slutlig). kommissionens svar rekommendation nr 2 en högnivågrupp2 för livsmedelsindustrins konkurrenskraft lade nyligen fram en rad initiativ som kommissionen avser att genomföra under de kommande månaderna. dessa initiativ ingår i genomförandet av färdplanen för att förbättra livsmedelskedjans funktion som kommissionen lade fram i slutet av 2008 i sitt meddelande livsmedelspriser i europa (kom(2008) 821 slutlig).