A major dilemma

Date: 20/06/1996

THE hour of truth, as Commission President Jacques Santer warned last week, is approaching.

Now that the Commission has finally thrown down the gauntlet to the British government, warning that there will be no agreement at the Florence summit on a framework for lifting the ban on British beef exports without a commitment from the UK to end its policy of non-cooperation, John Major faces a stark choice.

If he decides to ignore the Commission's ultimatum and refuses to abandon his blocking tactics, he is likely to leave Florence empty-handed. If he decides to comply, he risks a furious backlash from the Eurosceptics within his own party who have scented blood and are unlikely to be satisfied with anything less than total victory.

Meanwhile, other EU leaders are making it increasingly obvious that they will not allow the UK to wreck this weekend's summit by preventing discussion on a range of other key topics.

British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind insisted this week that the ban on UK beef exports would be the most important issue on the summit agenda.

Try telling that to the 18 million people in Europe who are currently out of work and who have repeatedly been told over the past few months that this will be the 'summit for jobs'.

Try telling that to the millions of people across the EU who are deeply concerned about the rising tide of cross-border crime and are anxious to see an end to the long-drawn out dispute over the Europol Convention which has hampered the agency's work so far.

Try telling that to the EU leaders who believe the summit must give much-needed new impetus to the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations.

Try telling that to the countries now queuing up to join the Union who must wait for an end to the IGC discussions before a timetable is set for talks on the terms of their entry into the EU club.

It is just that sort of comment from British ministers which has done so much to arouse the anger of their counterparts in other member states in recent weeks - and risks doing irreparable harm to the UK's relations with the rest of Europe.

It will be up to Italian Premier Romano Prodi, who will chair the Florence talks, to stand firm against any British attempt to turn it into a one-issue summit. He must also make it clear to Major from the start that EU leaders will not negotiate on the beef issue while a gun is still being held to their heads. If he does not, any deal struck this weekend will spark grass-roots fury in other member states where concern over the possible risk to human health from BSE is still running high.