Madam President, at this moment in time, Socialist members have been debating BSE far longer than most of you and, in all events, far longer than Mr Stevenson, but that is just a brief rejoinder to the last comment. As chairman of the last BSE committee, I have probably spoken more frequently in this House and in other fora on BSE than most of you since 1996/97. I believe therefore that many of you will already have heard much of what I have to say here today from me on previous occasions. Permit me nonetheless to summarise the background to the lifting of the export ban. The lifting of the export ban on British beef followed long scientific debate, long reports and numerous inspection visits to the United Kingdom and was approved by this Parliament. We now have a legal situation where there is an internal market and free movement of goods. Only where there is scientifically substantiated and provable cause for concern can the free movement of goods be excluded and suspended in order to protect consumer health. This applies to all Member States and it also applies in other respects. However, as this scientific proof always takes the form of an up-to-date expert opinion based on the information available, we must all take an interest in the latest scientific knowledge. Like most of you, I am no scientist. I must refer to the expert opinions of the scientists and I am interested in any new information which may cast fresh light on the situation. I was therefore most interested and curious to know what new information was available. Unfortunately, no new information has come to my attention either from France and other Member States or – and this remark is addressed directly at Mr Stevenson – from Germany. The reaction is therefore quite clear and unequivocal. Commissioner Byrne and the Commission have chosen the only correct reaction. Member States call time and again for legal security in the European Union, Member States call time and again for everyone else to respect the law when their own interests are at stake. And so there should be no exceptions for them either and there should be no arbitrariness in the European legal systems. Nonetheless, it would have been nice if the Commission had made the BSE test evaluated several months ago compulsory, i.e. if they had made it a duty incumbent upon all Member States. That would have given some Member States additional security and additional reassurance and all the Member States would at last obtain a clear and unequivocal picture. Then we would finally know exactly what the BSE situation is. My question therefore to Commissioner Byrne is this: when will we have a proposal on compulsory BSE testing in the Member States? Apart from BSE testing, we also need a record of provenance. We shall shortly be debating the Papayannakis report on beef labelling. This, too, would simplify and improve the situation of the Member States and help to protect consumers. Here too, and I say this loud and clear, the Member States have been dragging their feet. They have been dragging their feet since 1997 and the Commission has also failed to take the necessary action. That is inexcusable. Allow me to conclude with a few words on consumer protection as a whole. I have been in the European Parliament for 10 years, during which most of my time has been taken up with environmental policy and consumer protection. I do not always have the support of the Member States, despite hearing so much from them about consumer protection. May I remind you of the legislation on product safety and product liability, where I tried to obtain legal security. However, I was ignored by countries such as Germany, France and others when it came to protecting victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the longer-term. I would have wished for more consumer protection and more support than I mustered. Perhaps there is now a new trend in consumer protection. I call on the Commission and on you, Mr Byrne, to pass your homework on to the Member States. The Council is usually pretty dozy. All the members of the Council are usually pretty dozy. Make BSE testing compulsory and ensure that beef is labelled with its origin, that would be a major step forward.

Political group: PSE