E coli outbreak: EU to hold emergency summit

Ministers to discuss aid for farmers after tests for source of bacterium at Gärtenhof farm in Germany return negative EU farm ministers will hold emergency talks in Luxembourg after German scientists said there was as yet no evidence from tests to link the E coli bacterium to a farm producing bean sprouts in the northern state of Lower Saxony. Ministers will attempt to agree financial aid for fruit and vegetable producers hit by the E coli outbreak, which has killed 22 people in Europe. The source of the bacterium remains a mystery. Ministers had said there were “strong and clear indications” that bean sprouts from the Gärtenhof organic farm had spread the E coli . However, a first set of 23 results from 40 samples taken at the farm were negative, Lower Saxony’s agriculture ministry said in a statement. While the structure of the compensation package and the amount of aid have yet to be defined, the European commission said on Monday it expected ministers to reach a provisional agreement at the Luxembourg summit. “I’m not sure that we will actually have a legal proposal on the table tomorrow … I

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