This article is from page 71 of the 2007-07-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 71 JPG
IT seems that the European Om- budsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, is going to have to brush up on all things Irish, as it was revealed last week that at least three of the Irish Farming Organisation have lodged official complaints with his office.
The ICMSA and Farmers for Fair- ness in Europe (FFE), lodged a join complaint with Ombudsman, target- ing both the European Commission and the Council of the European Union on grounds of maladministra- tion by failing to ban Brazilian beef imports.
The complaint, which was drawn up in ICMSA Head Office, centres on what ICMSA President, Jackie
Cahill, has described as ‘the incon- trovertible evidence’ that the failure to ban beef imports from Brazil is in breach of EC law.
“We think we have identified the Commission’s vulnerable spot on this issue, which infuriates us all. The European Ombudsman func- tions in a similar way to the ombuds- men in member states – he must now undertake a full investigation of all the trails and reports drawn up by the Commission — including any that are as yet unpublished. He must then present his report with recommenda- tions to the European Parliament.
“The complaint is to be issued in the name of FFE and the presidents of the 12 associated farm organisa- tions and according to Mr. Cahill the
‘wriggle-room’ that the Commission have been using on the issue of Bra- Zilian beef will be severely circum- scribed by the formal complaint.”
The formal complaint is of the na- ture of a double-whammy in that the ICMSA/FFE complaint will also argue that the maladministration on the question of Brazilian imports coupled with the onerous regulations imposed on native European beef farmers amounts to an infringement of the rights of those farmers as Eu- ropean citizens as established and guaranteed by the European Court of Justice under the Treaty that estab- lished the European Community.
As a part of the FFE, the ICSA has also echoed the dissatisfaction of the ICMSA with the situation surround-
ing Brazilian beef.
“The Commission is failing in its legal duty to EU citizens by continu- ing to allow beef imports from Bra- Zil,’ said ICSA president Malcolm Thompson.
“The combined efforts of the or- ganisations in FFE are targeted at forcing the Commission to act on the clear veterinary evidence and other information collected by the Food and Veterinary Office of the European Union arising from nu- merous official missions undertaken by that office. In addition, FFE is confident that the Ombudsman will have to factor-in to his deliberations the complete ban on Brazilian beef imports operated by both the US and Australia.”