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No pressure
Page 31
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In a recent edition there is an article headlined "DOT takes five on 44t" which implies that pressure from Brussels is requiring the UK to accept five-axle vehicle combinations of up to 44 tonnes (CM 26 November-2 December).
[would like to make it clear that the only European legislation obliging the acceptance of 44-tonne vehicle combinations is within Directive 96/53 which requires that three-axle motor vehicles with two or three-axle semi trailers AND carrying a 40ft ISO container as a combined transport operation shall be allowed to circulate freely when making international journeys.
Thus it should be noted that Brussels has no particular wish to see 44-tonne 2+3 combinations destroying UK roads—this decision is a national one.
Finally, as the EC official responsible for Directive 96/53, I was intrigued to note that the UK's legislative change has come about "after the FTA contacted the Commission" since they have never been in touch with me on this (or any other) matter in the past five years!
Robert Missen,
DC WI—Transport, European Commission, Brussels.