AT the present time in European politics it's very unusual for a day to pass without some reference to British beef, and this week in Strasbourg has been no exception.

The difference now is that the European Parliament is finally doing something about the problem, by voting in favour of the Commission's proposal to create a special fund within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to finance farmers for the loss of their herds due to BSE.

Under this scheme farmers will be paid approximately £18 per head of cattle, and considering there are almost 23 million cows in the EU this is going to be a very expensive process.

The final cost to the EU budget (financed by each and every European taxpayer) will be somewhere in the region of £500 million. But the real tragedy as I see it, is that this money will not now be available for other worthy European projects, including job creation, research and development, transport, education and anti-poverty programmes.

At this juncture I must lay my cards on the table and say that I am completely opposed to EU financial support for the agricultural sector. In my opinion the CAP is Europe's single biggest flaw. When it began, way back in 1961, the main aim of the policy was to create a continent self-sufficient in food supplies. Memories of war time rationing were all too fresh in the minds of many Europeans.

The aim was successfully achieved by the end of the 1970s, yet despite this fact, the CAP remained in place and is still in existence today, nearly 20 years beyond its sell-by date. No other sector of the economy receives anything like the same kind of support. Picture the scenario: the car industry is suffering due to recession, and Ford receives a subsidy from the EU on each Fiesta it sells! Impossible, yes, but not when it comes to agriculture.

However, despite these misgivings, I see the necessary evil of subsidies for farmers hit by BSE. But MEPs are questioning the way in which the programme is being managed, and the fact that there is no support for those further down the food chain.

It's not just the farmers who are affected, think of the abattoirs, the canning factories, the butchers, the restaurants and the countless others who have been affected by this crisis.

"Where will it all end?" is the question being asked in the corridors of the European Parliament this week? Readers would be forgiven for thinking that MEPs are the very people who are in a position to do something about this incongruity, but unfortunately not.

The only sector of the EU budget over which Parliament has no control is agriculture. We can give an opinion, but the member states' agriculture ministers, who make all policy decisions, can choose to ignore Parliament if they so wish.

With beef, and Britain's policy of non co-operation in mind many of my European colleagues commented this week that it's a pity British politicians don't play the Euro game as well as their footballing counterparts. There was all-round admiration for the skill of the English team in their 4-1 defeat of the Dutch at Wembley. Proving that when we want to, we can play fairly with our fellow Europeans, and win when we do.

One group that definitely doesn't play fair is the IRA. Following the Manchester bombing MEPs have been asking when the IRA will realise that their campaign of violence will not win them any support?

The President of the European Parliament made a formal statement of condemning the atrocity, his words were echoed by every member of the House including all the British and Irish members.

The sad thing is that during a visit to Dublin two weeks ago, as part of a European Parliament delegation meeting Dick Spring, the Irish Foreign Minister, I was told that there was not a hotel room to be had in the city.

Since the ceasefire the tourist trade has been booming, there are 40 new hotels planned for 1997 in Dublin, but one more bomb from the IRA could blow it all sky high. We'll just have to hope that the terrorists will see sense and realise that the only way forward is through peaceful means.

Terry Wynn Merseyside West MEP

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