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• A plan to introduce limited cabotage by next year
Page 7
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is being backed by the Department of Transport and the French Ministry of Transport.
The plan was given a cool reception when first proposed by Spain earlier this year (CM 23 February-1 March), but at the 1989 Franco-British road haulage conference held in London last week. Pierre Debeusscher, head of the French road transport department, pushed for a transitory cabotage regime.
"The proposal is intended to cover a specific period of three years," said Debeusscher. "Clearly a quota system is not ideal, but we have to start somewhere. Hauliers have fears about cabotage and we need to give them a framework within which to work."
Full cabotage will come and "Germany cannot stop it by hiding behind its own quota system," he said.
For the Department of Transport, Valerie Colin-Russ, principal for freight policy and road haulage, said: "The idea of quotas is anathema to the British Government, but in this case it is a good way of proceeding as a transitional step. We wrongly believe that you have to have every piece of harmonisation in place before cabotage can go ahead."
Debeusscher says French hauliers are suspicious of cabotage. There appears to be a split between his Ministry and French members of the European Parliament, who are still strongly set against the transitional plan.
Spain will renew its attempt to get agreement on a trial cabotage scheme, when EEC transport ministers meet in Brussels on 5 and 6 June.