BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ European Union agriculture ministers

have agreed to a new round of aid reforms in Europe's shrinking

farm sector meant to boost competition in the global markets.

The ministers reached their agreement after all-night talks that

ended Thursday morning.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel says discussion

on how to provide aid to dairy farmers as milk quotas are abolished

across the 27-nation bloc in 2015 were the most difficult.

French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier says there was

``virtual unanimity'' backing the reforms which are the largest the

EU has undertaken since the last major round of reforms five years

ago.

The EU spends about 40 percent of its budget supporting 13

million farmers even though they represent less than 3 percent of

its population.