Member states were split along north-south lines following a debate at this week's Farm Council meting in Luxembourg upon Commissioner Franz Fischler's plans for boosting rural progress to maturity spending through compulsory 'modulation' of supplys from direct aids.

Member states were split along north-south lines following a debate at this week's Farm Council meting in Luxembourg upon Commissioner Franz Fischler's plans for boosting rural progress to maturity spending through compulsory 'modulation' of supplys from direct aids.

There was also no meeting of minds forward the issue of milk quotas a topic which was also prominent in this month's Council debate upon the MTR.

Meanwhile, an unproductive Council meeting also lasted in continuing deadlock over EU policy forward GMOs (see following article), and yielded no agreement in succession a plan to contain zoonoses, or diseases transmissible from animals