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ublished Rates: EEC Plans TIR IN SPAIN
Page 41
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FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ITHIN the next week or so the EEC Commission is due to present to Council of Ministers its proposals transport measures which will uale the setting up of a system of ed rates. The main principles of a system have been described before recently M. Lambert ' Schaus, onsible for transport at the Cornion level, outlined the main ations.
I. Schaus explained that when the +isional system came into use two structures would exist side by side: impulsory forked rates system and a Ference " system.
he compulsory system would be lied to road and rail transport, and would mean that during the initial e-year period all international ugh-traffic between member States Ii the exception of 'certain private ract work) would have to operate at s falling between the upper and :r limits of the compulsory brackets. ir the first three years the published s system would be applied also to anal traffic within the EEC.
y contrast, inland waterway transport have its charges related to a rence rates arrangement in which ; charged need be published only if are above or below the limits of the rks." Both the Council and the lber States will retain the power to y the reference system to certain I and rail transport in place of the pulsory tariffs.
committee will be permanently onsible for supervising the whole 7 transport market and for ensuring the new rates systems operate in the intended.
pth national and international surtraffic will, by the end of the nd stage of the plan, have been ight under the Community arrangets for rates. The intention is that e the compulsory and reference Tris will operate side by side for -national traffic, member countries be able to choose whichever of the they prefer for their own national ic.
'hile the basis of the systems has r agreed in principle by the Six there still wide differences of opinion on )rtant details. Italy and Germany (. that upper and lower limits should he same for published and reference ; and they suggest 20 per cent as a ble spread. Holland has suggested 0 per cent difference between the and lower arms of the fork for transport, while Luxembourg and ium feel that it should be possible ',try the span of the rates according le type of traffic being carried and means of transport involved.
is interesting to see that there is, rtheiess, general agreement that rates particular consignments should be subject to justification afterwards, rather than approval in advance. But even though this is agreed, the EEC States have very different views on whether there should be national authorities or a single EEC body to judge the merits of rates applied.
More important, the Six have not yet decided how the level of actual rates should be established or how the tariffs should be published.
The liaison committee of EEC road hauliers has expressed general approval of the plans for transport organization and forked rates, but there is s'rong criticism of the reference rate system. Apart from fears that the pressure of users would lead to uneconomic rates. below the lower limit of the forks. becoming widespread, the hauliers feel that it would be difficult to eliminate unfair discrimination and to control hidden subsidies if the rates charged were not known beforehand-as is the case with the compulsory system.
As regards the means of establishing rates levels. the EEC hauliers want true costs to be the main basis, with forks set not too wide (though wider for road than for rail), and very strict supervision of special contracts.