EU farm ministers meet in Luxembourg today to decide details of measures to rebalance the beef sector and to agree where to find the cash to compensate farmers for the effects of the BSE crisis.
The Commission is also expected to table proposals for an extension to the emergency income support package agreed in June.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, who will chair the meeting, will have his hands full trying to broker a compromise over Commission proposals to pay for the crisis by transferring resources from the cereals sector that have drawn strong opposition throughout the Union.
Member states have argued that the extra costs can be paid for by delaying next year's oilseed payments for a year and using the spare cash that they claim is always available at the end of each year in the agriculture budget. The issue will be debated this afternoon and followed by intensive discussions between the member states and the presidency on a bilateral basis.
A presidency compromise is then likely to be presented tomorrow morning with the possibility that the meeting could run into Wednesday. Diplomats say agreement is likely to be difficult.
The Commission's suggested extension to the calf-slaughter premium system - known as the "Herod premium" - faces stiff resistance from farmers and member states.
In an attempt to rebalance the beef market by reducing production to levels which match demand, the Commission is insisting on the need for measures that will rapidly affect output. The alternative, it says, if a glut is not to cause a collapse of prices, is the inevitable mushrooming of intervention at enormous expense.
Instead the ministers are likely to back German proposals for an early slaughtering premium which will bring animals on to the market at a lower weight than is traditional. The Commission opposes the measure as being costlier and slower than the calf slaughter premium.
The ministers will also hold an initial debate on Commission proposals on the labelling of the origin of beef. There is unlikely to be any discussion of recent scientific research on the link between BSE and the human disease CJD as they are still being discussed by the Scientific Veterinary Committee.
