MEPs demand beef cash from French

Date: 12/12/02

By Karen Carstens

CONSERVATIVE MEPs have called on French President Jacques Chirac to pay the equivalent of nearly €46 million to the UK for his government's delay in lifting its embargo on British beef, despite the EU ruling the embargo was illegal.

The move follows a European Commission decision to withdraw its application to the European Court of Justice for the imposition of a fine on France.

"The decision by the Commission to cave in and let France off the hook over its illegal ban is nothing less than a cheat's charter," a spokesman for the British MEPs said.

"This sends out a clear signal that it is perfectly acceptable to flout EU law and get away Scot-free."

The MEPs insist that the fine - based on the three years that the illegal ban was in place - must be paid.

Conservative MEPs have called on French President Jacques Chirac to pay the equivalent of nearly €46 million to the UK for his government's delay in lifting its embargo on British beef, despite the EU ruling the embargo was illegal.