MEPs’ anger over remote site for farm agency

Date: 22/11/01

By Martin Banks

THE European Commission has been accused of ignoring concerns about the new site of its farm agency.

The European Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) - the only Commission directorate based outside Brussels or Luxembourg - is due to open in purpose-built offices in Ireland early in the New Year.

But the choice of its new home, in a remote area of the country rather than in a major town as originally planned, has proved controversial. Several MEPs said the site is unsuitable and will be unpopular with the 160 staff to be based there.

Other concerns include lack of facilities and questions about the quality of the drinking water.

Irish Green MEP Patricia McKenna believes the EU was misled into accepting an "unsuitable" location and says the concerns raised by her and other members have been "brushed under the carpet" by the Commission. She said: "There's been a total cover-up. These are serious issues we've raised but the Commission has washed its hands of the matter."

EU leaders decided in 1993 to set up the FVO in a town to be chosen by the Irish government. The Commission recommended Dublin; the government decided, however, to house the office 25 miles away in Grange, the site of an agricultural establishment and the constituency of then-Prime Minister, John Bruton.

As Grange is not a town, McKenna says this is in breach of the mandate: "None of [the FVO staff] wants to move there because public transport is virtually non-existent and the local facilities are poor."

She raised the matter with the European Ombudsman and OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud office, but has been told it is not within the remit of either.

"The matter is still under investigation by the Parliament's Petitions Committee so we haven't given up all hope of something being done," she said.

The European Commission has been accused of ignoring concerns about the new site of its farm agency. The European Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), the only Commission directorate based outside Brussels or Luxembourg, is due to open in purpose-built offices in Ireland early in 2002.