Brussels, 26/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Noel Devisch and Mario Campli, President of COPA (Committee of Agricultural Organisations in the European Union) and COGECA (General Committee of Agricultural Organisations in the European Union) have, in raising, on Monday in Brussels, the BSE crisis with the President of the Agriculture Council, Margareta Winberg, asserted that the Council must immediately take, at the Community level, measures to tackle the disastrous situation of farmers and breeders. According to them, the Council must first: - restore consumer confidence, by rigorously applying and by clearly explaining the measures taken under the auspices of safety and consumer confidence; - free up the beef market by boosting the management measures as proposed by the Commission, but also by basing itself on the measures taken during the 1996 BSE crisis for which the effectiveness over mastering production is indisputable. Furthermore, they feel it imperative to find the additional budgetary means at the Community level (in particular to boost the short-term market management measures and to compensate the producers for losses incurred), and once more reject any mixing between the necessary short-term measures needed to tackle the crisis and possible changes to the CMO for beef and a new remoulding of the CAP.