Paris, Sept 30 - An extraordinary meeting of European farm ministers next week will not take any immediate decisions on how to support the struggling dairy sector, European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said.
The special gathering of European Union farm ministers on Oct. 5 was called at the request of France, which is pushing for fresh measures to counter a slide in prices that prompted a delivery boycott by milk farmers this month.
"Decisions will be for the next agriculture council on Oct. 19," Fischer Boel said in an interview with French daily La Croix published on Wednesday.
Monday's meeting would consider proposals made by the Commission last week, as well as suggestions from member states, she said.
Protesting dairy farmers suspended their delivery boycott last week to await the outcome of Monday's meeting.
A joint French-German call for new dairy regulations has won the support of 20 out of the EU's 27 members, but Fischer Boel said many of their suggestions had already been implemented or discussed by the Commission.
The Commissioner reiterated her opposition to a reduction in dairy production quotas and pointed to signs of a recovery in dairy prices.
"In the past month, European butter prices have risen by 10 percent. Cheese and skimmed milk prices are also rising, as is the average price of milk in the EU," she said.