Brussels, 13/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission decided to authorise Austria, Belgium and Germany to pay aid to beef farmers affected by the fallout form the BSE crisis. The Commission again argued the aid was necessary given the "extraordinary" nature of the BSE crisis. The Austrian scheme covers income aid to the tune of EUR 8.94 million in total for farmers in three regions, Niederösterreich (EUR 3.3 million), Steiermark (EUR 1.94 million) and Oberösterreich (EUR 3.7 million). Belgium has been given authorising to pay some of the costs of detecting BSE, while Bavaria in Germany has been authorised to grant EUR 51 million to partially cover the cost of burning meat and bone meal and animal fats.