Member states voted at the Management Committee meeting of 16 May on a European Commission proposal to open private storage aid for olive oil (up to 180 days) for 100,000 tonnes of virgin and extra virgin olive oil. This move follows relatively low prices seen on the EU market over the past weeks. The new regulation foresees two tenders (with deadlines for offers on 5 and 19 June, and adjudications at the respective Management Committee meetings two days later). They will be open to operators in all olive oil producing member states of the EU (Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia). Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos stated that the Commission will be coming forward with an action plan in the coming weeks aimed at addressing some of the medium to long-term structural problems that the sector is facing.