The EU Agriculture Council has okayed the release of more support funding for farmers hit by Russia's trade embargo.

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If the measures are passed, the funding would follow the release of €125 million (£100m) in August and a further €165 million (£130m) made available in September. A number of suspicious claims for funding under the August budget (for fruit and vegetable producers) led to the Commission suspending the support measures and coming up with a more targeted mechanism. In September, the package for dairy producers was found to have received further suspect claims for compensation.   

During the 3,337th meeting of the council on Monday, agriculture ministers from the EU's 28 member states voted to adopt a resolution on promotion measures for agricultural products on both the internal market and in third countries. The measures had already been passed by the European Parliament. Only the British, Dutch and Swedish delegations voted against the new scheme.

The measures would provide a framework for establishing priorities and an increased budget for promoting EU products, as part of a bid to help producers cope with the impacts of the ongoing trade ban and the transition into the new Common Agriculture Policy period.

Presiding over the meeting, Maurizio Martina noted, "With the adoption of the new legal framework regarding information and promotion actions for agricultural products in the internal market and third countries, I believe that we have achieved the goal of improving the competitiveness of agriculture in the EU so as to achieve greater equity."

The Council also discussed the possibility of additional measures for supporting the dairy industry, after dairy farmers' organisations from a number of countries have said they are feeling the effects of the ban on EU agricultural exports to Russia.

Poland's representatives suggested measures such as the introduction of exports refunds and the increase of intervention prices could mitigate the price falls observed in milk markets of those member states most affected by the ban.

Ministers from Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania called for direct support measures for their dairy farmers who have faced drastic falls in milk prices since the Russian embargo took effect in August.

Some ministers added that measures currently made available by the Commission to support fruit and vegetable producers are insufficient, though the EU executive body has pledged to find extra support funding from outside the agriculture budget.