Although in itself it doesn't cause disease, experts point to the extreme intensification of British farming over the last 20 years as an incriminating factor. Animals are packed together in big low-cost farms. Added to that, they are transported all over the country on their way to their final destination, as a result of national purchasing schemes from the food industry. The protective blockade has not prevented BSE from crossing the Channel. The same goes for smaller EU-countries, with equally intensified farming industries.
Member states demand and receive large compensations for their stricken farmers.
Added to that, the EU has to buy up and store thousands of tons of meat from healthy animals, to boost prices that have dropped alongside consumption. European Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler has already warned that the total costs might well exceed the annual budget of 40 billion Euro. He cannot allow that to happen. Two years ago, in Berlin, the 15 heads of state put a solid lid on the ever-expanding agriculture budget. Reminding the member states of that agreement, Fischler has refused extra compensation for farmers who see their income dwindle.