Team up to fight for French refund
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/ British hauliers are being urged to team up to fight for compensation following the French truck drivers' blockade.
Michael Salt, director of Baymex Management Services of Stoke-on-Trent, is willing to organise a joint bid. He says: "A claim for one or two thousand pounds may be a lot to a small haulier, but to the French government it's pin money. They are much more likely to respond to a master claim from a large number of hauliers."
Baymex's sister company, Baymex International, reckons it lost £5,000 as a result of trucks held up by the dispute. But Salt stresses this is not an attempt to sue the French government — as Baymex believes that the cost of a court case "may prove prohibitive".
litigation, they will stand a far better chance of success due to the information being at hand and in one format."
London solicitors Osborne Clarke, which has offices in Paris and Lyon, believes that claims could be made through the French courts under Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome, guaranteeing "free movement of goods" throughout the EC. But the company says: "It's not going to be easy".
The French Government this week hinted that it is unlikely to take compensation claims seriously. Responsibility for claims is being passed from ministry to ministry, and Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy has criticised Britain and other countries hit by the dispute for not being "understanding" enough.
The British Government has not been much more helpful. In a letter to the Freight Transport Association, Transport Secretary John MacGregor says: "The department has been telling inquirers that any claims for compensation should be submitted direct to the French Ministry of Transport."