No beefing on Tuscany trip

Date: 30/05/1996

Just how far does the British government's policy of non-cooperation with the rest of the EU over the beef crisis extend?

Could it be that the UK's EU ambassador Stephen Wall was instructed by UK Prime Minister John Major not to join his colleagues on a three-day weekend jolly around Sienna, courtesy of the Italian government?

Certainly Wall was absent last weekend when the ambassadors and their spouses had a fine time looking round the countryside of eastern Tuscany and sampling local products, especially some very good Toscanelli cigars. It is, of course, the custom for Coreper II to be wined and dined in style by each presidency, to forget for a moment the cares of QMV and IGC and, on this occasion, BSE.

Wall's absence did make it easier to ignore the mad cow fiasco, not least because there was no one there from the UK camp to honour Major's pledge to keep reminding the others of the need to resolve the issue every time someone ordered a round of drinks.

Wall's staff insisted, however, that BSE was not the reason for the British ambassador's rain check. They said he had never planned to go on the excursion because of a prior engagement.