Brussels, 23/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Council of Ministers, on Monday 22 February, refused to authorise Italy to grant state aid of €100 million for the purchase of agricultural land between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013. Unanimity is required in the Council for such aid to be validated, but four countries (Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden) opposed the request and the Czech Republic abstained. The Italian request will now have to follow the normal procedure of notifying the European Commission, which had doubts as to the justification for the aid and which does not much like countries trying to by-pass it by means of a Council vote. At the end of 2009, the EU Council of Ministers agreed to exceptional state aid (also for the purchase of agricultural land) sought by a number of new EU member states (Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Poland). This support was justified on the grounds of the severe difficulty being experienced by farmers in these countries during the economic and financial crisis. (L.C./transl.rt)