The Bonn regional court has dropped the charge against former chancellor Helmut Kohl regarding his role in the damaging of his own party, the Christian Democrats, by using slush funds to finance several electoral campaigns thorugh the 1980s and 1990s. Kohl will have to pay a fine of DEM 300,000 (EUR 160,000).
Now, however, the parliamentary committee in charge of looking into the affair hopes to get Kohl talking about the still unknown sponsors from whom he received the money in question. If no longer under investigation, Kohl will lose the right to refuse discussing this matter&—as he has been doing for almost two years now. Yet, knowing Kohl and his disdain for the committee, one should not be surprised to see him continue to be silent.
The "English disease" surfaces in Germany
The European Commission has threatened to prohibit all German beef exports after investigations into the safety of German beef produced traces of so-called BSE risk material, which refers in particular to brain and spinal marrow. The meat found was said to stem from slaughterhouses in the land of North-Rhine Westfalia.
British EU Commissioner David Byrne requested German Consumer Protection and Agriculture Minister Renate Künast to investigate the case. Germany, like all member states, will be subject to Commission control measures unless she can get a grasp on the issue herself.
Germany's long-held and self-marketed image as the country with the highest standard of food security in Europe was severely damaged when numerous BSE cases surfaced recently (most notably in Bavaria); the situation is made worse by the fact that the number of reported cases keeps rising.
Jens Boysen, 2 March 2001
Moving on:
Sources:
Die Zeit
Der Spiegel
Frankfurter Rundschau
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