Brussels, 14/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday evening, the European Commission announced that it had withdrawn its application to the European Court of Justice for the imposition of a daily fine on France, after verifying that Paris had in fact transposed the Community legislation on exports of British beef into its national legislation. The provisions of the French implementing law fulfilled the conditions of EU legislation, the European Commission states, saying it is convinced that compliance with Community law was achieved. The Commission, which is determined to draw lessons from this French-British crisis over BSE, announced its intention to review the provisions of Article 228 of the Treaty, which establishes the legal procedure to be followed when a Member State fails to comply with EU legislation or with a ruling of the Court (letter of formal notice, reasoned opinion, referral to the Court of Justice, then application for a fine).
Paris decided to re-open French borders to British beef on 2 October, after the conclusions of the "Comité national de sécurité sanitaire" (CNSS) in the light of the opinion by the "Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments" (AFSSA) (See EUROPE of 3 October, p.8). The decision became effective after publication of a national decree on 25 October. In July, the Commission had called upon the Court to impose a daily fine of EUR 158 250 on France for failing to comply with the European rules and with the earlier ruling of 13 December 2001, which had declared maintaining the embargo against British beef unlawful (see EUROPE of 18 July 2002).
Indignant reaction from British conservatives
British Conservatives of the European Parliament immediately reacted by accusing the Commission of bowing to the will of France in order to avoid the fine. MEP Neil Parish said the Commission has thus demonstrated that "the Commission has now given a clear signal that it is acceptable to flout EU law for over three years and get away scot-free". "This is bad news for British beef farmers who have seen their industry decimated thanks to the French Government", Mr Parish said, adding that it is "now essential that the British Government takes up the cudgel independently so that our farmers can receive both the compensation and the justice that they deserve".