=mission bows to 40 tonne pressure
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European Commission bowed finally to political pressure last k and formally buried its proposal for a 44-tonne European dard lorry, reports our Brussels correspondent.
is now proposing a 40-tonne imum weight on vehicles of or more axles in line with wishes of members of the opean parliament (CM July he aim of the proposal is not standardise national regulas on weights, but to define features of a lorry for interional transport which all EEC ntries would allow to travel their territory.
ach member country would entitled to restrict the 40no lorry to certain routes.
ome new regulations have n added to the proposal reding the maximum weight r metre: five tonnes for single iicles and trailers and four Ines for articulated vehicles, t the politically contentious .tonne drive-axle remains.
Jnder the new draft, EEC Jntries are given until January 1984, to comply with the ective. The EEC commission's 44tonne proposal dates back to 1979 — and many officials in Brussels still think that this is the better solution.
So they have left the door ajar for making changes; after five years they propose that a report be prepared reviewing the situation. Said an EEC spokesman: "If container loads have increased by then, a higher weight may be necessary."
The 40-tonne proposal could be put to transport ministers at their next meeting on December 15.
But the Brussels officials feel that Britain, which now holds the EEC presidency, may wish to delay such a controversial decision until next year when it no longer sits in the chair.