23/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council on Monday 22 February, the European Commission refused to agree to the request from France which wanted measures to be taken to alleviate the situation in the cereals market. The Commission acknowledged that the feed grain market, especially for barley, was “difficult”. It said that, since the start of the current marketing year, 3.5 million tonnes, of which 3.3 million tonnes of barley, had been offered for intervention. Sowing and balance-sheet projections for 2010-2011, however, suggested that there would be real improvement, so, in these circumstances, it did not seem appropriate to Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloº to take specific measures, such as export refunds for barley, given that there were also definite export possibilities. (L.C./transl.rt)