EU opens up to the East
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• The European Union has struck deals with Hungary and Bulgaria which will give EU hauliers access to the Eastern European Countries, in return for giving Bulgarian and Hungarian operators easier access to the EU.
EU hauliers will be able to make 13,000 return journeys to Bulgaria a year, and 12,500 trips to Hungary. The Bulgarian and Hungarian haulage industries will each be given 6,000 permits for return journeys to the Ell The EU Council of Ministers for Transport says the deal is designed to "promote co-operation between the parties in goods transport". All parties promised to exchange information on problems associated with the growth in goods transport between them. They also committed themselves to a future agreement on common access, which is expected to further liberalise East-West trade.
Hungary is likely to be one of the first East European countries to join the EU, probably within the next five years.
• The EU transport ministers have adopted a directive harmonising the examinations taken by inspectors who advise hauliers moving dangerous goods around the EU, whether by road, rail or waterway.