Meanwhile, Farming Life has been informed that the measure will be funded from the EU's overall budget, and not by national exchequers.
An EU Commission spokesman continued: "The issue of the budget will be handled by EU finance ministers and the European Parliament over the coming days. The money represents the last possible allocation that could be sourced from the 2010 budget. It will be made available to the EU member states on the basis of their recorded milk output during 2008/09. This equates to a figure of around €28 million for the UK. The Commission's previous proposal of a €15,000 direct support payment for dairy farmers, which would be funded by national governments, remains on the table. It will be discussed in more detail next week."
United Dairy Farmers' Group Chief Executive David Dobbin has welcomed the proposed EU funded aid package for the milk sector.
"It works out at an approximate 0.17 pence boost for every litre of milk produced in Northern Ireland," he explained.
"But this is only part of the picture. I remain opposed to the concept of state aids for the dairy sector. In the first instance they will destabilise EU milk markets. There is also little prospect of the UK Treasury agreeing to fund such measures."
He added: "The history books show that local dairy farmers fared best when international milk markets were in balance. And to this end the European Commission must retain export refunds for the foreseeable future and ensure that the dairy stocks currently in intervention are released in ways that will not damage international markets. I also believe that the Commission must retain some form of control over EU milk output, if not formally by quotas then through some other light touch management measures."
The Ulster Farmers' Union has welcomed EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel's commitment to releasing additional funding to support the dairy sector.
Responding to the Commissioner's comments, UFU Deputy President John Thompson said: "We welcome the Commissioner's recognition of the extent of the difficulties prevailing in the European dairy sector. While she didn't outline exactly how the funding would be allocated, she did make it clear that the measure should benefit dairy farmers directly.
"The Commissioner has made this proposal and it can now be considered by the EU Council of Finance Ministers in November. The Commissioner also indicated her acknowledgement of the need for dairy intervention stocks to be released back into the marketplace with the minimum disruption to market recovery; an important point which the UFU has been highlighting."
Mr Thompson added: "The dairy sector and indeed other sectors such as the arable and beef sectors have endured a difficult 2009. The amount of funding which Commissioner Fischer Boel is suggesting could be released for the dairy sector would be a welcome help for producers, although the amounts of funding per individual farm would be limited. We will also be maintaining our efforts to ensure the EU Commission are fully aware of the problems which face all our sectors."
But not everyone in Brussels is happy about the proposed support measures for the milk sector. Conservative Agriculture spokesman in Brussels Richard Ashworth MEP pointed out that now was not the time to propose even greater subsidies to dairy farmers.
"We recognise and sympathise with the plight of dairy farmers who have had to cope with very low prices in the past year. However, milk prices are showing signs of recovery and therefore now is not the time to propose even greater subsidies to dairy farmers," he added.
"This, in conjunction with the other measures that the commission has proposed, increasing the state aid level to €15,000 and technical changes to the management of the quota system, sends the wrong signal to dairy farmers as to the future of the CAP. This will make it even harder for dairy farmers to cope with the removal of quotas."
Mr Ashworth concluded: "Europe should be preparing for a quota free milk sector that can truly respond to the opportunities the global market provides, not caving in to protesters in the short term."