Vienna  - A majority of European Union countries on Monday called for helping dairy farmers with an additional 300 million euros (442 million dollars), after an informal meeting of farm ministers and officials in Vienna.

The representatives from 20 EU countries, which represent 95 per cent of the EU's milk market, said member states should contribute that amount. The European Commission already expects to spend up to 600 million euros this year on market measures.

France would have to pay 60 million euros, French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said at a press conference after the meeting.

The countries also called on the European Commission to implement several immediate measures to help dairy producers suffering from low prices for their products.

These include extending subsidies for milk deliveries to students, using more milk powder as animal feed, and better labelling of dairy- type products that do not contain actual milk.

The 20 countries also called for replacing the current quota for EU-wide milk production, which is set to run out in 2015. "We need a new system with new measures," Le Maire said.

The meeting came a week before the next formal council of EU farm ministers in Luxembourg. "We want to give a clear political signal," Le Maire said.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel rejected member states' demands for short-term measures last week.

But the Commission adopted its own proposals last Friday that are to be discussed in Luxembourg. The plan would enable the Commission to intervene more quickly in the milk market, and it would allow countries to buy up more milk stocks.

Low milk prices are due to the global economic downturn and higher output by large producers such as Australia, Brazil and New Zealand, according to the Commission.

The body said average milk prices rose to between 0.25 and 0.26 euros per litre in July and August and would rise further in the coming months, owing to already adopted market interventions.

Britain, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Malta and Sweden were not represented at the Vienna meeting.  dpa