Beef crisis
- Sign found in Ireland as a result of the crisis (Photo: Lisbeth Kirk)
In 1996 a link was found between Mad Cow Disease (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD).
The EU banned British beef exports until 1999. But, while other EU countries lifted their bans on UK beef and resumed imports, France and Germany refused to do so.
Finally, a peace agreement, the "protocol of understanding", was signed. The French Government agreed to lift the ban and the UK accepted the development of new test projects as a symbolic concession to the French.
The EU Parliament set up an inquiry committee on BSE and found there had been mismanagement in coping with the disease.
