 991223 EU Steps Up Pressure on France Over BeefDecember 10, 1999 Brussels - The European Commission vowed to step up legal action against France's continued ban on imports of British beef in a damaging cross-Channel row that threatens to sour a European Union summit in Finland. Paris announced that it would keep in place its ban because it had insufficient guarantees that British beef was free of mad cow disease. French ministers tried to play down the row, saying the decision was not meant as an unfriendly gesture but rather to protect consumers. But London saw it differently, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair telephoning French Premier Lionel Jospin to tell him he had delivered a “totally wrong” verdict. “This means the French are totally isolated on this issue,” Blair's spokesman said. Blair was due to come face-to-face with Jospin at a two-day summit of EU leaders in Helsinki, which starts Friday. In Brussels, European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne said he expected the EU's executive Commission to take the next legal move against Paris at a meeting in Strasbourg this week. This would involve sending Paris a so-called “reasoned opinion” -- a formal written warning setting out the legal case -- giving France five days to respond. “If after that, the embargo isn't lifted, we're straight into court,” Byrne said. A decision to haul France before the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, is the final legal stage, but it can take up to two years before a judgement is issued. Byrne, clearly frustrated he had not formally heard from France about its decision, told a news conference he may seek an interim court injunction against France to speed up the process. If the court subsequently ruled France to be in breach of EU law, Paris would be told to lift its embargo and could then face a fine imposed either as a lump sum or in a daily penalty. The EU lifted its 1996 embargo on British beef in August. French Say Consumer Safety First In Paris, Jospin played down Britain's angry response to Wednesday's decision, saying his first priority was to safeguard the health of his people. “I am not worried,” he told reporters. “I am first and foremost accountable to French people for what I do.” He said Germany was also not heeding the EU decision to resume beef imports and noted that more than 40 countries worldwide were maintaining an embargo on British beef, citing among them Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Byrne said he expected the German Parliament to debate the issue on December 17. In Berlin, a health ministry spokesman said the country's 16 regional states were studying a proposal the ban be lifted in conjunction with strict labeling rules and that no decision was due until early next year. If Germany fails to lift the ban soon, Byrne said it would be in the same position as any other member state out of step with EU law, signaling he would recommend legal moves. In Britain, the French move rekindled media fury against what is viewed as Paris's deliberate flouting of EU law. “L'Outrage!” declared the Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper. “We'll see you in court.” “The whole operation of the European Union is now in ruin,” said Tim Yeo, agriculture spokesman for the opposition Conservatives. British beef exports were originally banned in March 1996 after the government admitted a possible link between mad cow disease, or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), and a deadly human variant of the illness, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. So far more than 40 people in Britain have died from nvCJD and scientists say it is too early to predict the final toll.
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