The British government will face EU legal action over the blockade of Irish beef unless it can satisfy the Commission it is taking reasonable measures to guarantee the free movement of goods, the Internal Affairs Commissioner, Mr Mario Monti, told an IFA delegation last night.
A spokesman for the Commission, Mr Gerry Kiely, said that the blockade was "totally unacceptable". The Commission would monitor the situation closely and had written to the British authorities reminding them of their legal obligations, he said.
The president of the IFA, Mr John Donnelly, also met the Transport Commissioner, Mr Neil Kinnock, and insisted the British authorities were "making no real efforts to keep their borders and ports open to beef imports".
In a letter to the Commission he called on it to move swiftly to compel the British to restore immediately the free movement principles of the single market. He also called for intervention measures to stem the fall in prices in Ireland resulting from the denial of access to the British market.
Brussels has also been insisting it is not responsible for the grievances of the British farmers.
The British farmers are complaining they have not received compensation for the recent appreciation of sterling against the ecu and the consequent fall in the value of EU subsidies.
The Commission has authorised payment to them of £220 million, half of it from Brussels, but the British government does not want to draw down the money, let alone match it.
Under the agreement reached with Mrs Margaret Thatcher on the British rebate, most of the money received from Brussels would simply be lopped off the British rebate. The Commission is wary about suing the British authorities in the European Court of Justice as it would be required to prove that the authorities had been negligent.
In the recent French truckers' dispute, despite frustration at the delays caused, there was a perception that the French had done their best to mitigate the effects of the dispute. But the Commission did sue the French over a previous blockade of strawberry imports.
Yesterday Mr Monti did, however, suggest that there appeared to be some evidence of inaction by the British authorities.
In order to speed up legal pressures on member-states in such situations, the Commission is also asking Justice Ministers, meeting here yesterday and today, to approve a directive which would require domestic courts to take account of a Commission declaration that a breach of treaty free movement rules had taken place.
The move was welcomed by the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, who points to the particular vulnerability of Irish exporters, 70 per cent of whose produce goes to other EU member-states.
