France’s refusal to lift its import ban on British beef despite receiving an “all clear” on BSE fears from the Brussels Commission landed the country in the dock at the European Court of Justice yesterday.

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The Commission bought the long-awaited case to court, and lawyers are now expected to argue that France failed to fulfill its legal EU obligations by ignoring the Commission’s decision.


Britain is formally backing the case after UK Prime Minister Tony Blair became infuriated with France’s dismissal of a binding EU trade law.


In France meanwhile, experts acknowledge that the decision to leave the British beef ban in place after being given the all clear defied the EU law. However, they argue that EU member countries should not be persuaded to ignore their own national experts’ opinions on matters of food safety.

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