Even if the September 26 European Commission report on Bulgaria's readiness to become EU member states recommended the introduction of safeguard clauses these would not be necessarily functional, European agriculture commissioner Mariane Fischer-Boel said.

Fischer-Boel met Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Nihat Kabil and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev on September 11, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Safeguard clauses would be enforced only in case some spheres are still not synchronised with the major accession requirements, the commissioner said.

The introduction of such clauses was listed in Bulgaria's accession treaty and was not a novelty, Fischer-Boel said.

In the agriculture sector Bulgaria needed to deal with two major issues, she said. The country needed to set up payment agency and an administrative control office.

The issues were going to be discussed further Fischer-Boel said. She said that the co-operation between the Agriculture Ministry and the EC was good.