The £135 Million Cucumber Bailout
UK TAXPAYERS FORCED TO SHARE COMPENSATION BILL FOR GERMANY'S MISHANDLING OF E.COLI OUTBREAK
BY SEAN POULTER CONSUMER AFFAIRS EDITOR
BRITISH taxpayers are to contribute to an EU bailout worth at least £135million for farmers hit by Germany's E.coli epidemic.
The bill is a direct result of the German government's failure to get to grips with a crisis that has claimed 22 lives and left thousands sick.
The European Commission proposed a figure of £135million, but the final amount could be two or three times higher.
The bill is so high because the Germans initially wrongly blamed the food poisoning on salad produce imported from Spain.
Sales of Spanish cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes collapsed, while those of all salad products across Europe were hit, generating huge losses for farmers.
Freshfel Europe, the EU fresh-produce body, said the weekly economic damage is estimated at £178million for Spain, £70million for the Netherlands, £18million for Germany, £3.5million for Belgium and £2.7million for Portugal. The Spanish insist that £135million falls far short of what farmers should be offered.
The compensation is being covered by the existing Common Agricultural Policy budget and will not require extra cash from national governments.
The UK share of the bill, as a proportion of the national annual contribution to the EU budget, is estimated at £16.6million.
The European Commission is looking at suing the German government to recoup the cost of the bailout, but it is unclear whether this will be possible.
Yesterday EU health commissioner John Dalli firmly rebuked the Germans and warned against premature and inaccurate conclusions on the source of the bug.
He told the EU parliament in Strasbourg that it was essential only to release scientifically proven results, to avoid spreading 'unjustified fears'.
After blaming Spanish salad the German authorities changed tack over the weekend, pinning the outbreak on bean sprouts from an organic farmer based in the north of the country.
Officials subsequently admitted that tests on the bean sprouts proved negative for E.coli.
They are now saying that they may never establish the original source of the mutant strain.
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, described the German handling of the crisis as 'erratic' and a 'disaster' .
He said officials should have conducted more detailed patient interviews as soon as the epidemic began, to pinpoint a common food that was eaten by all those who became infected.
Yesterday, the World Health Organisation said the outbreak has reached a stage where we may never know the source.
The number of infections in Germany rose yesterday to 2,325, with another 100 cases in ten other EU countries and the U.S.
The number of victims in intensive care with a rare, serious complication that can lead to kidney failure rose by 12 to 642.
So far 21 Germans and one Swede have died after falling ill.
In the UK 12 cases have been identified, all of whom had recently visited Germany.
Yesterday the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said there was no evidence that any food contaminated with the killer strain of E.coli has found its way in to British shops.
He said that the Government has decided not to ban food imports for the time being.
Fury: A Spanish MEP yesterday
'Spreading unjustified fears'
