EU offers 150 million euros to farmers hit by killer E. coli

[xchrom]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/EU-offers-150-million-euros-to-farmers-hit-by-killer-E-coli/articleshow/8763186.cms

LUXEMBOURG: The European Commission said on Tuesday it will ask EU states to release 150 million euros in aid to European vegetable producers whose sales have been decimated by a deadly bacterium outbreak.

Spain, however, immediately dismissed the offer as insufficient, warning against entering a "numbers war" after German authorities wrongly blamed Spanish cucumbers as the source of the lethal strain of E. coli.

European agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos urged German authorities to quickly find the real source, warning that consumers are losing confidence every day the outbreak remains a mystery.

"I will propose 150 million euros today," or $220 million, Ciolos told reporters ahead of an emergency meeting of EU farm ministers in Luxembourg.