Bruton backs British in search for end to beef ban

THE Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, has backed British demands for a framework of measures to remove the worldwide ban on. British beef exports, but has insisted such a framework must be based on restoring consumer confidence.

Speaking in Bonn yesterday after two hours of talks with Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Mr Bruton said he hoped a solution to the beef crisis could be found before the EU summit in Florence later this month.

"The concept of a framework is not a problem. But the truth of the matter is that a framework will only work if the consumer is convinced that the product is safe," he said.

The Taoiseach criticised Britain's policy of obstructing EU business as self defeating, adding that the political controversy over beef had to be deescalated before a solution could be found.

"It's no good banging tables trying to get politicians to listen. You need to convince the consumer, and that requires subtlety, patience and science. Political rhetoric is ineffective," he said.

Mr Bruton was received at the Chancellery with full military honours before a two hour lunch with Dr Kohl, who later described the meeting as "an excellent discussion". The Taoiseach briefed Dr Kohl on the all party talks in Northern Ireland due to start on Monday, but the rest of the meeting was devoted entirely to EU business.

Mr Bruton said Dr Kohl expressed the view that the Irish presidency would be extremely important for Europe and that it was a chance to demonstrate that the smaller member states could make an impact on the EU's development.

The two men did not agree a joint approach to the beef crisis, and Mr Bruton was unable to present Dr Kohl with a new initiative to resolve it, as German officials had hoped. But they were in accord on most issues, including the importance of introducing a single European currency on schedule in 1999.

Mr Bruton also backed Germany's proposal for a "stability pact" to commit EMU members to good financial behaviour after the currency is introduced. The potentially discordant subject of Irish neutrality was not raised.

In a speech last night to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a Christian Democratic think tank, Mr Bruton identified the fight against drugs and crime, along with combating unemployment, as the priorities for Ireland's presidency. He said the current level of EU spending on drugs action less than 30 million ecu, was derisory.

"Drug abuse and trafficking is a particular concern to Ireland. Ireland has not been immune from the havoc and misery which this modern day scourge has wreaked on whole communities across the European Union. This Europe wide problem demands a strong Europe wide response," he said.

Ireland would seek to advance the inter governmental conference negotiations as rapidly as possible during its presidency and Mr Bruton called on all EU member states to avoid thinking in narrow national terms.

"The IGC is not a tug of war with 15 teams pulling in different directions, with the Commission monitoring free movement. We are all basically on the same side and once the negotiations have concluded, there must be only one winner, the Union itself and its citizens," he said.

Germany and Ireland agreed on the extension of qualified majority voting in the EU, the simplification of the decision making process and the enhancement of the role of the European Parliament. But Mr Bruton expressed doubts about the process of differentiated integration favoured by Germany that would create an inner dynamic core of member states within the EU.

"We do not deny that flexibility has proved a useful tool in the past and may do so in the future. Ireland strongly believes, however, that if an arrangement is developed in the current negotiations, it must not lead to an a la carte union which would be in nobody's interest," Mr Bruton said.

The Taoiseach had dinner last night with German business representatives at the residence of the Irish Ambassador in Bonn, Mr Padraig Murphy, and will return to Dublin this morning.