The EU Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, is ruling out mass vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease, despite mounting pressure from Germany and the Netherlands. The issue is expected to dominate a meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers that began in the Swedish town of Ostersund yesterday.
Four of Germany's 16 federal states want to vaccinate all sheep, pigs, goats and cattle against the disease, despite warnings that such a move could wreck EU agricultural exports. Under EU rules, the European Commission must authorise any such vaccination but Commission sources say Mr Byrne is vehemently opposed to such a step.
"The Commission will look at any individual application, as we did in the case of Britain and the Netherlands. But these things can only be allowed in strictly controlled circumstances and with the approval of all member-states," a Commission spokesman said.
Germany's Agriculture Minister, Ms Renate Kunast, opposes mass vaccination but she has promised to convey to other EU ministers and the Commission the concerns of some regional leaders.
The Prime Minister of the Rhineland palatinate, Mr Roland Koch, said yesterday Germany would not accept the mass slaughter of animals to combat the disease. "If it is clear that there are new cases all the time and that the crisis is not under control, we must start with preventive vaccination. The sooner the European Commission allows that, the more animals we can save," he said.
Ms Barbel Hohn, Agriculture Minister in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine Westphalia, said she expected the EU ministers to move further towards mass vaccination.
"The EU has undermined its position ever more in the past few weeks. This has made the EU's anti-vaccination policy ever more lacking in credibility. The number in favour of vaccination is growing from day to day," she said.
The EU has authorised limited vaccination programmes in Britain and the Netherlands, but only for animals that are already destined for slaughter.
The EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, said at the weekend that the foot-and-mouth crisis was creating enormous financial problems for the EU. He estimated the crisis had already cost the EU more than 170 million euros, mainly in compensation payments for slaughtered animals.
