IRO warns of threat
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
to harmonisation
• Germany and Austria are blocking liberalisation of road transport across Europe because they fear it will increase traffic congestion, according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU).
The claim was made following a meeting of European Union transport ministers earlier this month which decided against negotiating transit agreements with Poland and the Czech and Slovac republics.
Peter Krausz, IRU officer in charge of central and eastern Europe, says agreements would now be restricted to Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, even though all six countries are associate members of the EU
and are aligning their transport legislation.
He says: "I believe that Germany and Austria are acting against the will of the European Commission because they think liberalisation will cause extra traffic congestion. If you look at the economic inte. gration of east and west Europe, there are much closer ties between Germany and the Czechs than between Germany and Bulgaria."
Krausz adds that transit agreements are only being negotiated with Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania to ease the problem of Greece's geographical isolation from the rest of the EU.