Fischler stays neutral as rivals compete to claim Lipizzaners

Date: 24/09/1998

By Myles Neligan

FARM Commissioner Franz Fischler has said that he is powerless to intervene in a dispute between Austria and Slovenia over breeding rights for Lipizzaner horses, famous for their dressage performances at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

Fischler's announcement that the European Commission has no competence to intervene in disputes over genetic copyright means that the matter will have to be resolved through bilateral discussions between breeding organisations from the two countries next month.

At the centre of the disagreement lies the right to define the ideal physical characteristics of the Lipizzaner and the prestige of being the official home of the renowned snow-white horses.

Most of the world's 3,000 Lippizaners originate from a stud farm in Lipica, which is now part of Slovenia. But Austria claims that as Lipica lay within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1580, the horses should be considered Austrian. The presence in Vienna of the world-famous Spanish Riding School strengthens Austria's claim.

The dispute has become a cause célèbre in Slovenia, with public feeling over the issue running high.

Supporters of the country's copyright claim say the Slovenian authorities would be more likely to pay much-needed public subsidies to the Lipica stud farm if the Lipizzaner were officially recognised as a Slovenian breed.

“This is a matter of great cultural importance to Slovenia. The first Lipizzaner was bred in Lipica in southern Slovenia in 1580 and we regard Lipizzaners as part of our national heritage,” said a Slovenian diplomat.

Last month, the government sent the Commission a diplomatic note urging it to recognise Slovenia as the official home of the Lipizzaner, and asking to be regularly consulted during all stages of the debate even though it is not yet a member of the EU.

But apart from a 1992 Union directive which calls on the Commission to encourage cooperation between breeding organisations in the event of international disputes over genetic copyrights, there is no EU legislation which addresses the issue.

“Intervening in disputes of this kind lies beyond our remit,” said a spokesman for Franz Fischler.

Slovenian diplomats are keen to play down the tensions surrounding the issue. “It is a misunderstanding rather than a dispute. We are sure that the matter will be amicably resolved,” said one.