HOPES for a reduction in Ireland's £93 million beef fines now rest squarely with the EU's 20 commissioners tomorrow following a long but inconclusive debate between their senior aides last night.
The weekly meeting of chefs de cabinet which prepares the Commission agenda is understood to have heard several expressions of sympathy for the Irish position, but sources say it is still too early to tell whether an acceptable compromise can be brokered by the Irish Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, tomorrow.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, who was in Brussels for a meeting of Farm Ministers yesterday, met the Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, for further talks, but refused to anticipate the result of the Commission meeting. He denied there was any agreement yet and said the climate for getting a special deal for Ireland was poor.
Commission insiders say it is very hard to predict how the 20 commissioners will vote on this issue.
The £93 million Irish beef fines which are being dealt with tomorrow are for the years 1990 and 1991. They consist of an £18 million fine for breaches of the tendering regulations for intervention and a £75 million fine for failing to enforce proper quality or yield controls on intervention storage.
The latter, by far the most serious in terms of potential losses to the Community, is made up of £27 million for 1990 and £48 million for 1991.
Mr Fischler is understood to have said he is willing to back a proposal to phase payment of the £48 million over three years £24 million in 1996, and £12 million in each of the next two years. He is also understood to be willing to promise a "review" of the last two payments if there is evidence that Ireland has significantly cleaned up its act.
There is also, some officials say, a glimmer of hope that the £18 million tendering fine may he substantially cut. In its report on the issue the independent conciliation committee, set up to mediate between the Government and the Commission, accepted that there were breaches of the regulations. But it argued for a reduced fine because the abuses did not lead to distortions of the market. So the most optimistic scenario may be a cut to, say, £3 million in the tendering fine and the suspension of half of the 1991 storage fine. That would leave a bill for 1996 of £54 million instead of £93 million, with no further liability.
The worst scenario, based on the original Fischler offer, would be no cut in the £93 million fine, and hence a bill of £69 million for 1996, and £12 million for each of the subsequent two years. In this case there could still be some relief through an application to the European Court of Justice on the tendering issue.
