Most of the EU's member states have requested EU subsidies to boost consumer confidence in poultry meat due to a fall-off in sales caused by alarm over bird flu.
Last month, the European Commission agreed to underwrite half of a bill likely to run into millions of euros to restore consumer confidence in poultry meat.
The idea is for governments to submit national "poultry plans", if they want to, asking for grants of EU cash.
Ireland, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic had now done so, and their requests were being examined, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said.
Italy and The Netherlands were expected to submit their requests very soon, she said, speaking on the margins of an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers.
EU countries have seen poultry sales slump since late last year due to general fears about eating the meat, after numerous outbreaks of bird flu in both domestic and wild flocks.
Although stocks of poultry meat are still high across the EU-25, particularly in Germany, Italy and The Netherlands, many countries are now reporting slow improvements in consumption and retail prices, latest European Commission figures show.
