First French block payouts are made
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by Rob Willock II Hauliers who have given up hope of French compensation will this week be heartened by news that the first payments have finally been received.
S8zj European Haulage of Melton Mowbray and TD Williams of Llanelli won their compensation after submitting claims in English and on the basis of the daily rate agreed between the British and French authorities in December l996.
The payments came from the Le Mans prefecture almost a year after the companies were caught up in the blockades.
Margaret Blair, office manager at SC European Haulage, says the company received an offer for two-thirds of the amount it applied for from Le Mans. It wrote its acceptance in French on 23 June and was paid on 18 August. "It's still a ridiculous situation," she says, "but at least we've had a response from one prefecture."
Tommy Williams of TD Williams says: "We're pleased—it's a start. But we've only been paid by this one prefecture, which is just a fraction of what we are owed in total."
There are still about 1,000 claims from British firms outstanding. "So this is by no means the end of the battle," says a spokesman for the Road Haulage Association. "We still face a wall of bureaucracy, but at least we can now see some chinks of daylight."
The debate will now centre on whether these first payments represent a legally sound precedent should the matter go all the way to court.
Li EC Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock is holding a meeting of affected hauliers in Brussels on 23 September ((TM 28 Aug-3 Sept).