Food safety funding in doubt

Date: 29/05/1997

By Michael Mann

MEPs are making life difficult for Consumer Affairs Commissioner Emma Bonino as she strives to push through changes forced upon her by the European Parliament's own committee of inquiry into the BSE crisis.

Formally, the Parliament is waiting until EU governments give their initial opinion on the Commission's plans before considering Bonino's request for additional funding to pay for almost 100 new officials.

But it already appears unlikely that the budgets committee will agree to release the necessary funds. “Although there is no formal position from the Parliament yet, Bonino's cabinet is very pessimistic,” said one Commission official.

The cost of the 38 extra officials due to be taken on in the last four months of this year is estimated at just over 3 million ecu, with the 59 new posts set to come on stream in 1998 costing more than 10.7 million ecu.

Parliamentary rapporteur Dutch Liberal MEP Laurens Jan Brinkhorst has made it clear that the Commission should be looking to finance the changes from money set aside for unfilled vacancies in other departments.

But the Parliament's resistance will cause considerable anger in the Commission.

It was the MEPs' threat of a vote of censure against the executive in the wake of the BSE crisis which led Commission President Jacques Santer to give Bonino her new responsibilities and encouraged her to ask for a large number of new staff.

If that were not enough, Bonino has also been getting a rough ride from the Parliament's committee for the environment, public health and consumer protection.

It claims that planned changes to the Irish-based Office of Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection and Control are “a real mishmash” and would not guarantee “value for money”.

The office, which Bonino has proposed renaming the Food and Veterinary Office, will move to Dublin this September, but is supposed to be based eventually in Grange in County Meath.

MEPs question whether it is sensible to move such a crucially important bureau from Brussels to one of the Union's peripheral regions, stressing that the decision to do so was taken before the BSE crisis, when a much smaller body was envisaged.

They are also concerned that if supervision of the agency is switched from the Commission to member states, it will lead to a “renationalisation of Community policy”.

Bonino has stressed that the decision to base the office in Ireland was taken by the Council of Ministers and points out that a several similar agencies are already located elsewhere, without any particular problems.

Despite the difficulties she faces, Bonino is nevertheless pushing ahead with plans to get the new-style scientific advisory committees up and running. Eight experts are expected to be nominated to the Scientific Steering Committee on 22 July. It will then meet in early September to select members of the other committees and will be fully operational by October.