Ash tree disease – “Don’t pass the buck”

Chris Davies MEP

Claims that EU competition law prevented the early introduction of a ban on the import of ash tree saplings have been dismissed as "blatantly untrue".

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, a member of the European Parliament's Environment and Public Health Committee, has insisted that EU rules clearly provide for governments to take 'emergency measures' in such cases.

He said: "European Commission officials are annoyed that ministers are using them as an excuse for inaction when the opportunity for the UK to introduce a ban was always available.

"This is not one of those occasions when Brussels can be blamed by civil servants and ministers keen to pass the buck to anyone but themselves."