One recommendation put to the ministers was to change the status of the experts in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and to toughen up the standards for authorising transgenic foods.

Liebscher admitted however that he could not rule out a further hike in inflation rates in the short-term, given high food and oil prices, and that growth was likely to slow further.

Sarkozy sent a presidential plane to Bogota to allow Betancourt's children to be reunited with their mother.