Krems, 30/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - At their informal meeting in Krems, Austria, on 30 May, the Ministers of Agriculture of the Member States of the EU decided to launch a few initiatives to improve the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and help it to meet the challenges which face it, such as the end of the current level of Community funding as of 2013 and the anticipated results of the negotiations under the Doha Round, which are set to lead to the removal of export refunds. The Commission has stated that of the 54 billion EUR of total Community funding earmarked under the framework programme for research for the period 2007-2013, 2 billion EUR will go to pay for projects in the field of agriculture, the fight against animal disease, nutrition, forestry and biotechnology. The Austrian Minister, Josef Pröll, presented the conclusions of the Presidency after the Council's debate: - the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (CPRA) was tasked with preparing a common strategy for agricultural research (the networking of the results recorded by the Member States); - the EU will develop a common strategy for training and look into creating a programme similar to the "Erasmus" one for students at agricultural colleges; - the EU will set up a European platform for advisory services for use by farmers (such as the one in the field of bio-energy, raw material for the pharmaceutical industries and tourism) for the exchange of best practice.