Today, October 5, Eskil Erlandssson gathered his European colleagues for an informal lunch in order to discuss the situation on the milk market. This will form a basis for the formal Council meeting on October 19-20 when decisions related to the milk market will be taken.

The lunch was informal which means that no decisions could be taken. However, the discussion helped to identify areas on which to focus in future work. At the lunch Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel informed on the new proposals that the Commission will present in order to deal with market instabilities in the short term.

She also presented an agenda for a high level group to be lead by the Commission. This group will discuss more long term issues and found support from a large number of ministers. The first meeting of the group is scheduled for October 13 and a final report is planned for the end of June 2010.