France to provide £168m in farm aid

Paris - France will pay 1

Paris - France will pay 1.4 billion francs (£168 million) to compensate those farmers hardest hit by the mad cow disease crisis. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Jean Glavany, said yesterday the payment would complement the billions of francs France had already spent on increasing cattle tests, banning meat-and-bone meal in all animal feed and taking other measures to fight the spread of the disease. "The aim is to help those businesses that have been worst hit by the crisis and not to adopt a scatter-gun approach. The aid will be targeted, well-defined and limited."

The president of the French farmers' union (FNSEA), Mr Luc Guyau, has put farm financial losses from the beef crisis at a minimum of three billion francs. He said: "If we take into account what has already happened, we're looking at two billion francs. And if we take into account what's going to happen, the bill could double."

Tens of thousands of French farmers have seen incomes fall as consumers shunned beef because of fears of the effects on humans of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Beef sales across the EU have fallen by nearly 30 per cent as a result of the crisis that erupted last October. More than 80 people in Britain, two in France and one in Ireland have so far died from the human form of BSE.

Mr Glavany said earlier this week the European Commission had given its approval to his plans to compensate French farmers for losses from the crisis, although EU Farm Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler said he had simply presented the conditions under which EU member-states could give emergency aid to farmers.

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Mr Glavany said the Commission's tacit approval of France's plan to compensate its farmers directly for their losses may herald a major shift in the Common Agricultural Policy. Under pressure from French cattle producers, Mr Glavany has said he would press the EU to grant direct aid to farmers hardest hit, but hinted the burden may fall on France.