The European Commission today asked the European Court of Justice to impose a fine of €158,250 a day on France until it lifts its longstanding ban on British beef.
The Commission said it has asked the European Court of Justice to set in motion an "accelerated procedure", which would see a decision on the demand within three months rather than the usual 18 months.
The Luxembourg-based court already ruled against France in December for ignoring EU demands to withdraw the ban.
The Commission is aiming to put an end to almost three years of battling with France, which has repeatedly refused to lift the ban citing continuing concerns over the existence of mad cow disease in British beef.
And it is up to the court to decide exactly how much France would be forced to pay, using the commission's numbers as merely a suggestion.
Since EU rules set penalty schedules for each member according to gross domestic product and the seriousness of the infraction, France could pay anywhere between €10,530 and €651,770 per day.
France imposed a ban on British beef along with the rest of the European Union after the mad cow outbreak in March 1996.
The 15-member European Union lifted the ban in August 1999, after Britain introduced new safety measures to ensure the containment of the brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
At least four people in France have died of the terminal disease's human equivalent, new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. More than 100 people have died in Britain alone.
France refused to comply with the EU decision, saying it was unconvinced that British beef was safe. The Commission sent a warning letter to the newly elected French government on June 26th, giving it 15 days to make a decision before it decided to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.
France responded by saying it would not take its decision until September, when its food safety agency is expected to complete a full risk analysis of British beef.