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EU agriculture ministers gather for crisis talks amid mass demonstrations

Xinhua, September 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Agriculture ministers from member states of the European Union (EU) gathered in Brussels Monday for an extraordinary meeting amid a mass demonstration of European farmers, looking for possible measures to alleviate the situation caused by its Russian sanctions.

Ahead of the meeting, thousands of European farmers and milk producers, as well as a large number of tractors, blocked Brussels' main streets for a mass demonstration to protest falling food prices and demand EU help.

"Luxembourg's presidency convened this Council today to find solutions for the serious economic crisis affecting the agricultural sector," Fernand Etgen, Minister of Agriculture of Luxembourg, said before his stepping into the meeting.

According to an announcement by the Council of the EU, the ministers will discuss the state of EU's agriculture markets, with milk prices a particular priority, as well as the impact of the Russian sanctions.

"The last figures show that the prices are not profitable for the most of producers," said the minister, pledging that the ministers and the European commission will present a short and medium-term program to give new perspectives to the farmers.

"We hope to improve the situation of the producers with concrete proposals of the European Commission and a constructive dialogue," he said.

However, Phil Hogan, the EU commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, was unable to attend the crucial meeting due to health problems.

According to Hogan's spokesman, the Commissioner took ill on Saturday night and was taken to hospital with a stomach viral infection.

EU Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said he would present a package of proposals instead of the commissioner. Media have predicted that new aid for EU dairy producers will be announced.

EU agricultural producers have claimed that some 6.13 billion U.S. dollars have been lost due to the food embargo against Russia, according to Copa-Cogeca, an EU farm trade union.

In August 2014, Moscow imposed a one-year ban on the import of certain food products from the countries that had introduced sanctions against Russia. The food ban was later extended for another year. Endit