France, U.K. lock horns over beef

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, NOV. 27. The Ango-French relations, already under pressure over demands here for a ban on French beef, took another knock on Sunday when Britain's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. John Prescott, blamed the French Environment Minister, Ms. Dominique Voynet, for the collapse of the talks on global warming in The Hague over the weekend. He said she developed `cold feet' at the last minute and couldn't get the drift of the deal he had brokered between America and Europe.

In what one newspaper described as an international slanging match, Ms. Voynet held Mr. Prescott responsible for the failure of the conference saying he had given in too much to American demands and this was not acceptable. She said the American proposals, which Mr. Prescott seemed to have accepted, would increase rather than decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Prescott, who dramatically walked out of the conference on Saturday signalling its collapse, said on Sunday that Ms. Voynet was not able to make a balanced judgment. ``She got cold feet, felt she could not explain it (the agreement), said she was exhausted and could not understand the detail and then refused to accept it. That's how the deal fell.''

Mr. Prescott also turned on the European Ministers generally accusing them of not coming on board at the crucial moment. ``There comes a time when politicians have to use their own guts, their judgment. That's what I decided to do and everyone was with us until we got into those Euro Ministers and they split,'' he said. The contentious deal focused on American demand for `carbon credits' in exchange for planting forests to absorb gas emissions.

While Mr. Prescott thought that he had been able to get the U.S. to accept a compromise, Europeans were not satisfied. They were `suspicious' of the detail, according to a newspaper report. ``The French in particular were annoyed when they discovered that Americans wanted 50 million tonnes of carbon credits for its forests alone with 20 million plus for its farmland on top,'' The Times said.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair's office meanwhile rushed to Mr. Prescott's defence declaring that he did an ``extraordinary job getting so close to an agreement''. Mr. Blair's official spokesman, Mr. Alastair Campbell, in a statement said the talks at The Hague ``got as far as they did because of (his) drive and determination''.

Independent observers however thought that Mr. Prescott's `outburst' had vitiated the climate for further talks.

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Section  : International
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