| Author (Person) | Taylor, Simon |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol 6, No.10, 9.3.00, p7 |
| Publication Date | 09/03/2000 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 09/03/2000 By Fears are growing that Germany will refuse to lift its ban on imports of UK beef later this month after two key parliamentary committees voted to keep the embargo. If the parliament's upper house (Bundesrat) follows their lead when it votes on the issue next Friday (17 March), the European Commission is almost certain to take Berlin to court for failing to comply with EU internal-market rules. A German health ministry official said this week that the Bundesrat was unlikely to go against the recommendations of its two influential committees on health and agriculture, which narrowly voted against ending the embargo, citing concerns that safeguards were inadequate to protect public health. "Unless something changes, it is looking rather black," he said, adding that the outcome would depend on whether the Berlin government was able to persuade the leaders of Germany's 16 federal states (Länder) to reject the committees' advice. The committees' reservations about easing the ban centred on concern that the EU's labelling rules were not strict enough to protect consumers. Germany tried to convince the Commission last month to allow it to introduce a scheme which would have required all UK beef to be labelled as such from the slaughterhouse to the supermarket shelf, even if it had been processed in another Union country. But the EU executive rejected this, arguing that this would clash with single-market rules because it would involve one member state imposing requirements on another. The Commission took the first step towards legal proceedings against Germany over its failure to lift the embargo on imports of UK beef last month, giving Berlin a short grace period until after the 17 March deadline to explain its stance. |
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