UK rejects derisory EEC licence offer
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No decision on permits in Brussels: weights ruling postponed — but high figure likely
From our Continental correspondent
• In Brussels this week the EEC Council of Ministers failed to agree on a Commission proposal of 99 multilateral Community haulage permits for Britain, compared with the 321 allotted to Germany, 313 to France and 249 for the Netherlands. The British delegation made it clear that they want a quota comparable with that of France or Germany — but the French have made it equally plain that any enlargement of the British quota should be accompanied by a "more co-operative attitude" on lorry weights.
On the latter issue, the 11-tonne axle weight battle between Britain and the Six ended in a draw on Monday when the Ministers agreed to postpone a decision till next year, after Britain has become a member with full voting rights. At the request of the French, however, the Six inserted a statement into the record of the meeting to the effect that they maintain their position — that is, 11-tonne axle weight and 40 tonnes gross weight.
In private, British Ministers say that for them the problem is a political one after the Commons resolution and in view of public alarm about Continental "juggernauts". Their main concern was to avoid any decision before next year; they are quite prepared to admit that Britain will then have to accept higher limits than her present 10 and 32 tons.
The next stage will probably be discreet contacts between London and Paris, and any compromise which results will almost certainly be acceptable to the others.
Earlier, in the Council meeting, the Six had gone through the motions of proposing a compromise under which Britain, Eire and Denmark would have been granted extensive waivers for almost as long as they liked in return for accepting the weights proposed by the Commission. The British delegation were not interested in this kind of solution; they wanted the decision postponed until the New Year, and then reopened on the proposed EEC-wide plans for 11 -tonnes and 40 tonnes.
Only 99 licences initially Because of the failure to agree on the multilateral haulage licence quota, Britain will receive only 99 such permits for the firsI three months of 1973 but a working part) is to be set up to look into the method ol calculating quotas, so that a final decisior can be taken by April 1.
Meanwhile, the Council decided tr extend the present experimental system o forked rates for another two years to gathe more information about its practical effects Britain will therefore be obliged to appll the system for haulage journeys betweei member States.