Brussels, 20/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - As we announced earlier, the European Commission has decided to release special aid to private storage of beef to support the market. The aid will amount to 472 euros per tonne for the first three months and 0.93 euros per tonne for every extra day after that, from the fourth to the sixth month. Requests may be presented from 27 November 2000 to 2 February 2001 for all Member States operators whose markets are affected by the new beef crisis, declared last week in France with a 40% fall in consumption. This country should logically be the main beneficiary. The Commission has for now evaluated at 125,000 tonnes the amount of meat that could be concerned by this measure. The decision was approved unanimously by the beef management committee, which allows the Commission to adopt it formally any time now. The cost will depend on the response received from private operators. On the basis of 125,000 tonnes, it would be around EUR 60 million for six months.