AGRICULTURE Minister Jack Cunningham faced angry farmers yesterday as they picketed a meeting of European farm ministers at a hotel in Newcastle.

They arrived under police escort, but as soon as he got off the bus, Cunningham set off to confront a group of about 100 protesters who kept up a loud chant of ''Lift the beef ban''.

As he exhorted the crowd to keep calm, Cunningham assured them: ''There is nothing you can advise us to do that we are not doing already to get the ban lifted. The Prime Minister and the whole Government is working to get it lifted.''

He refused, however, to be drawn on a target date. ''If I said next month and we didn't get it through, you would be disappointed. If you can think of something we are not doing that we should be doing, please tell us.''

One farmer demanded that he should rescind the ban on beef on the bone which he described as a farce. Cunningham replied that 26 people had died from CJD and he would only lift that ban once he got the all-clear from advisers.

English NFU president Ben Gill, who led yesterday's demonstration, had a brief meeting with the ministers. He said he had pushed EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler hard on the question of approval of the date-based export scheme by the autumn. This would allow cattle born after August 1996 to qualify for export.

''I see no reason why we should not have the ban lifted by then and we must continue to lobby for that,'' he said.

German farm Minister Jochen Borchert said he would require to see detailed proposals before he could make any comment.

At the meeting itself, the prospect of European Union member states being given more power to develop their own policies for supporting livestock farmers in fragile areas - such as Scotland's hills and uplands - emerged.

The UK submitted a paper which emphasised that, despite substantial subsidies to livestock producers in Less Favoured Areas, their incomes were chronically low. Most were dependent on subsidy and, in some cases, the subsidy exceeded net income.

After the meeting Cunningham said there was agreement on the need to provide a secure, viable and sustainable future for LFA livestock farmers, while trying to protect and enhance fragile ecosystems.

Opinion was divided on how market support regimes might

be adjusted to meet social and

environmental objectives in rural areas.

However, it was acknowledged that policies must take full account of the role of agriculture, not just in producing food, but also in contributing to the countryside and the rural economy.

Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler indicated that the introduction of the euro would lead to a re-writing of the agri-monetary compensation scheme used to shield member states from substantial revaluations of their currency and support payments.

The new system will be required to adopt a twin-track approach to meet the needs of those states inside the new monetary system and those who have opted to stand back.

For those countries which adopt the euro, a one-off adjustment will be required from January 1, 1999. For the others, there should be a less cumbersome mechanism than the present system, Fischler said.