WRITTEN QUESTION E-2661/01 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The effectiveness of the European Community's no-vaccination policy as a solution to foot-and-mouth disease.
Date: 2001-10-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC Directive, Netherlands, United Kingdom, foot-and-mouth disease, public health, slaughter of animals, vaccination

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/141

These Commission proposals are a concrete contribution to translating into legal terms the political
declarations, recommendations and decisions regarding terrorism which were cited in the resolution
quoted by the Honourable Member.

Accordingly, the Commission has given legal form to those political purposes, consolidating them within a
legal text.

Concerning the time-frame, the JHA Council on 20 September 2001 instructed the Committee of Senior
Officials set up under Article 36 of the Treaty on European Union to take steps immediately to examine
the two proposals thoroughly so as to enable the Council to achieve significant political agreement on
both proposals at its meeting on 6 and 7 December 2001.

The extraordinary European Council meeting on 21 September 2001 signified its agreement
to the
introduction of a European arrest warrant and the adoption of a common definition of terrorism. The
warrant will supplant the current system of extradition between Member States. Extradition procedures do
not at present reflect the level of integration and confidence between Member States. Accordingly, the
European arrest warrant will allow wanted persons to be handed over directly from one judicial authority
to another. In parallel, fundamental rights and freedoms will be guaranteed.

In addition, the European Council directed the Justice and Home Affairs Council to flesh out that
agreement and to determine the relevant arrangements, as a matter of urgency and at the latest at its
meeting on 6 and 7 December 2001.

(1) COM(2001) 521 final.
(2) COM(2001) 278 final.
(3) COM(2001) 522 final.

(2002/C 115 E/145)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2661/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 October 2001)

Subject: The effectiveness of the European Community’s no-vaccination policy as a solution to foot-and-

mouth disease

Is the Commission aware:

7 that a study of 60 foot-and-mouth outbreaks around the world in the last decade led by
lecturer at the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine at the University of
Dr. Keith Sumption,
Edinburgh, showed that in 22 countries that did not vaccinate before an outbreak of the disease those
countries that used a combination of vaccination and slaughter were all able to control the virus
within 42 days, whilst half the non-vaccinating countries that opted for slaughter-only took longer
than 50 days to contain the epidemic, with eight of the 10 longest outbreaks involving a slaughter-
only policy, and that the study concluded that slaughter-only policies had worked effectively only
when outbreaks were small and very localised and tackled immediately;

7 that 95 % of the millions of animals slaughtered in the U.K. in recent months were perfectly healthy,
causing immense distress to many farmers, some of whom barricaded their farms or resorted to legal
proceedings in an attempt to prevent their flocks and herds being slaughtered;

7 that one of the world’s leading experts on the disease, Professor Frederick Brown, the former Deputy
Director at the animal virus research unit at Pirbright, former Professor of virology at Yale University
and currently visiting scientist at one of America’s leading testing laboratories, has argued that
vaccination was the only way to slow an outbreak in which sheep (which can carry the virus for three
weeks before showing symptoms) were the principal carriers, and that when he offered the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the use of a testing system developed by his laboratory which could
test for infection on site and produce accurate results within two hours, he was told that the scientists
there were ‘too busy’;

C 115 E/142

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

7 that British soldiers called to assist in the slaughter were being fed on legally imported beef from

Argentina, which practises vaccination against foot-and-mouth?

If so, and bearing in mind that vaccinated animals are perfectly safe for human consumption and that as
Commissioner Byrne has testified to the European Parliament, foot-and-mouth is not a risk to human
health, that the extent of the slaughter not only caused enormous psychological stress to many farmers
and soldiers but increased the risk of BSE transmission and that the Dutch government’s policy of early
vaccination has been an unqualified success, will the Commission not only undertake an immediate review
of its no-vaccination policy without waiting for the outbreak in the UK to end, but also consider
intervention on public health grounds so that millions more animals are not needlessly slaughtered?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 November 2001)

The number of cases of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom has diminished rapidly in recent
months and the most recent outbreak occurred on 30 September 2001. The introduction of vaccination at
this stage is, therefore, most unlikely to lead to the saving of millions more animals as suggested by the
Honourable Member. Moreover, vaccination cannot be introduced solely at the Commission’s initiative.
Instead, it must be requested by a Member State(s). It should be noted in this respect that all applications
to the Commission for the introduction of vaccination in the course of the recent outbreaks were
approved, subject to the conditions agreed with the Member States in the Standing Veterinary Committee.

A summary of the grounds for the non-use of vaccination in the United Kingdom is to be found on the
website of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Commission has already, repeatedly, undertaken to carry out a fundamental review of the current
Community approach towards vaccination once the current outbreak has been eradicated. As part of this
review process a major conference is taking place under the Belgian Presidency on 11-12 December 2001.
The review will also take into account the experience in the Member States where outbreaks occurred. This
includes, in addition to the UK, the Netherlands where a limited policy of vaccination was used and the
vaccinated animals were slaughtered and France and Ireland where outbreaks were eradicated without
recourse to vaccination.

Once this review has taken place the Commission will present a proposal for a Council directive on Foot
and Mouth Disease which will be transmitted to the Parliament for its opinion. The future approach
towards vaccination, drawing on the experience of the recent outbreaks, will be a major part of the
directive. The proposal is expected to be finalised in the first quarter of 2002.

(2002/C 115 E/146)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2663/01

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(1 October 2001)

Subject: Public service contracts and the Mafia in Italy

In a public statement, the Italian minister responsible for public works, Mr Lunardi, said that, given the
situation in Italy, one would have to ‘live with the Mafia’ when carrying out the major public works
programme that had been announced by the Berlusconi government.