Beef ruling fans Eurosceptic flames

Date: 18/07/1996

By Michael Mann

EUROSCEPTIC members of John Major's ruling Conservative Party have seized on the European Court of Justice's decision to uphold the export ban on British beef as further evidence of the pressing need to curb the Court's powers.

The bitter reaction of Tory right-wingers to the judgement came as no great surprise, but it will increase the pressure on the hard-pressed UK prime minister to demand that the ECJ's wings be clipped.

Immediately after the Court rejected the UK's call for an injunction, Conservative back-bench MP Teddy Taylor claimed: “This is yet another sign that the European Court is effectively creating new powers for itself rather than interpreting the law, and is seeking to establish a single European state in which it decides virtually everything.”

With the question of further European integration now at the centre of the government's internal woes, London has chosen to concentrate much of its anti-EU rhetoric on the ECJ.

Its disappointment over beef follows a controversial ruling by the Court that the UK should compensate Spanish fishing companies prevented from operating under British quota arrangements. Even greater problems are anticipated if, as expected, the Court also throws out London's challenge to the EU's Working Time Directive.

Taylor's reaction mirrored that of a number of his colleagues on the right of the party. One of them, John Wilkinson, urged the government “to assert the primacy of British law over European law”.

The judgement was also seized on gleefully by opposition MPs who have criticised the government for its handling of the beef crisis, with Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesman Paul Tyler claiming that “the interim ruling blows to smithereens the government's current policy”.

Although unhappy, reaction from Major and his Attorney-General Sir Nicholas Lyell was more measured.

Major called the ruling “very disappointing and frankly rather surprising”, while Lyell found encouragement in the fact that the Court “accepted the force of some of our legal arguments” and “recognised the ban is causing severe harm to UK interests”.

They vowed to continue their battle in the run up to the Court's full ruling in several months' time, and to work with the Commission and scientific committees to achieve a gradual lifting of the ban.

But despite the comparatively reasoned reaction from the UK - thanks at least in part to the fact that the British media's attention was focused on the disturbances in Northern Ireland and the Royal Family's marital woes - Major will remain under intense pressure to push for the Court's powers to be diluted.

That debate is bound to gain momentum now that the Irish presidency has begun to put together a first draft of a revised Maastricht Treaty.

The relief in Brussels that the Court had found in the Commission's favour was palpable. Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said simply: “This is what we wanted.”

Privately, officials had expressed concern that the Court might find the extension of the ban to non-EU countries unlawful. In the event, it said this question could only be looked at in the context of the substance of the full case later this year.

London will be watching with interest to see how the Commission reacts to Bonn's decision to extend its unilateral domestic ban on imports of all beef products from the UK indefinitely.

Although largely academic in theory - Germany imported little UK beef prior to the ban - the decision could have huge legal ramifications. Commission officials have already indicated that the move is contrary to EU law and could force the Commission to take Germany to court.

“No letters have been sent yet, but that does not mean that they will not be in the future,” said Fischler's spokesman Gerard Kiely.

Following a similar move in March, Germany was only spared the Commission's wrath when the latest crisis flared following the announcement in the British parliament of a possible link between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

The Commission is aware of the sensitivity of the situation and the difficulties involved in bringing the Germans into line.

“Imagine us having to take the German government to court for protecting the health of its consumers,” said an official.

Most observers believe other member states would have considered similar unilateral action had last week's Court decision been in favour of the UK.