Brussels, 02/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - Before the European Parliament plenary, Commissioner David Byrne discussed, on Thursday, the measures taken to fight against the epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and, in particular, over the latest guidelines adopted on Monday by the Agriculture Ministers (see EUROPE of 31 January, p.7). Mr Byrne recalled that this concerns: - a ban on all beef mechanically separated for the bone; - to introduce a pressurised heat treatments for animal fats; - impose the extraction of the spinal column. On this last point, the Commissioner underlined that the main difficulty remains the choice of location for this extraction. If it is done at the abattoir level, this would imply problems for the chains, storage and the transportation. At the butcher level, other problems present themselves in terms of controls on the recuperation and destruction of bones. The other issue that must still be decided is that of derogations: should we continue to exempt from these measures the States such as Austria, Sweden and Finland that have not shown cases of BSE until now?
During the debate, the German Christian Democrat Reimer Boge welcomed, on behalf of the EPP/ED group, the efforts undertaken by the Commissioner to guarantee a high level of consumer protection. However he regretted the slow and not always enforced decisions, this last criticism targeting more specifically "negligence of the Member States". He also underlined that the unequal implementation of the tests discredits the game, by giving the impression that some countries are more affected than others. On behalf of the ESP group, the German Social Democrat Dagmar Roth-Behrendt spoke in favour of the complete elimination of risk materials as well as for the extraction of the spinal cord at the abattoir stage. As for the exempted State, she noted that as long as there are no test carried out nobody will really know is they are free. The Finnish Mikko Pesala insisted, on behalf of the Liberal group, over a full implementation of the measures agreed upon, and also hoped for the adoption of these measures by the EU accession candidate countries. For the French Green Danielle Auroi, who was speaking on behalf of the V/ALE group, it is clear that the States free from BSE are those who do not carry out tests. "15 years after the first case, the Community decisions are still lagging behind over the disease and the last Agriculture Council did not derogate this rule", said Mrs Auroi speaking in favour of the ban on animal fats and the generalisation of tests. For the GUE/NGL group, Salvador Jove Perez (Izquierda Unida) called for the revision of the financial prosecutes of the Agenda 2000 and the position within the WTO in order to enable the financing of the crisis, to redirect the agricultural policy and to replace animal protein with vegetable protein of Community origin. Liam Hyland (UEN, Ireland) and the Italian radical Emma Bonino insisted on the effective enforcement of the Community measures. The French hunters representative Jean-Louis Bernier called for measures in favour of protein rich crops as well as direct aid for farmers. "The Member States must demonstrate discipline and solidarity" said the French Socialist Georges Garot, who also favoured: - a faster establishment of the European Food Safety Authority; - favours in favour of vegetable protein; - a redirecting of the CAP; - the taking into account of farmers in terms of direct aids. The Frenchwoman Francoise Grossetete (Liberal democrat) denounced "the misdeeds of CAP, which preferred to increase the wealth of large farmers that did not need European subsidies and left aside the real peasant world that our lands need so dearly". Also calling on his colleagues to show courage to "face up to the Council" and establish a sustainable agriculture with a "redistribution of agricultural subsidies."