No move on ECMT permits
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MINISTERS of Transport from 19 European countries meeting in Dublin last month failed to reach any agreement on increasing the number of multilateral haulage licences.
The haulage licences, which I are issued by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, allow unlimited travel in 19 European states, but there is a conflict of interest between less travelled countries such as Britain, which is on the periphery of Europe, and large inland countries such as West Germany, which take exception to foreign lorries pounding their roads and bridges when they get very little in return. Britain's allocation of the 560 licences stands at 30 while Germany has 71 and France has 58.
Irish Transport Minister John Wilson is the current ECMT chairman, and he told a press conference at the end of the twoday meeting that the basic principles involved in the licence issue were "almost diametrically opposed."
During the conference, the ministers were addressed by the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Charles Haughey, who reflected on the problems of co-ordinated European transport policies.
"The development and improvement of transport infrastructures, the very special problems of transit countries, the need to protect the environment, the financial position of the railways, the uncertainty about the future energy situation, and the particular national problems of each country — all of these factors make the development of common policies extremely difficult," he said.