Veto threat to EEC talks
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IISAPPOINTED diplomats nd EEC civil servants fear hat the absence• of the ierman minister at next veek's Common Market 'ransport Council will prevent ny progress being made.
The presence of the German 'ransport Minister Herr ;scheidle is vital if there is to ■ e any agreement on ■ roposals to replace the existrig social regulation on [rivers' hours.
And the outcome of these roposals will affect the future f other items on the agenda. Officials in Brussels were urprised to learn that Herr iScheidle will be Duty Miniter in Bonn on Tuesday when he two-day council is scheluled to start in Luxembourg. A deputy from Germany's ■ olitical civil service-, Herr tuhnan — who is apparently ioted for his stubbornness — nill be taking the minister's The different national dele;ations have wanted different nings and there has been no love towards a compromise t all.
Sources reveal that there is ery little willingness in the lstitutions to try something 41 for size — and warn that his could mean the collapse of he regulation.
The Benelux countries want Lational and international rovisions for the social reguation to be the same, it should ■ rove to be more of a political han a technical argument.
Even if there is no agreenent, Britain and Ireland will lave to apply the regulation as t stands at the end of this year. f they refuse, the matter could ;o to the European Court of ustice, as has been threatened n the past.
A technical amendment to he tachograph regulation will lepend on what ministers lecide on the social regulaion. The Belgians, supported )y the French, want those Tehicles exempted from the ocial regulation to be ?xempted from fitting tacho graphs.
These would be buses, test vehicles, emergency ambulances and the like. There is also provision for the Economic Commission for Europe Agreement which tries to impose standards broadly similar to those in the social regulation for third countries, such as Austria, Yugoslavia, and Switzerland.
If the social regulation is changed, then these standards would have to be adapted to bring them into line. Germany is also expected to be hard to move on a proposal from the commission on referrence tariffs.