The European Commission unveiled emergency measures aimed at rescuing Europe's beef market, now in free-fall as consumers shun beef on fears of mad cow disease.
The measures, outlined by EU Agriculture Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler, include wide-ranging changes in the way the European Union subsidizes cattle farmers, in order to encourage cuts in beef production.
They also include incentives favoring organic farming in place of industrial agriculture techniques that are thought to be exasperating the spread of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
BSE is suspected of being linked to a rare but fatal brain disorder in humans called variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.
"We all know the beef market is in a deep crisis," Mr Fischler told the European Parliament where he publicly announced what he called an "seven-point emergency package."
Yesteday in Brussels, EU finance ministers approved 971 million euros in supplementary aid to farmers suffering the effects of the mad cow crisis.
AFP