Channon's EC countdown
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• Transport Secretary Paul Channon will be fighting for more time on HGV weight limits when EC transport ministers meet next week.
Under EC procedure the decision to end the exemption for two, three and four-axle trucks (where Britain's weights are generally one tonne lower than the EC norm) can be decided by qualified majority — but the British move to 40 tonnes on five and six-axle vehicles has to be unanimous.
By threatening to use the veto, Britain may be able to win an extended deadline for all vehicles. The extra breathing space is needed, Whitehall claims, to strengthen roads and bridges. Denmark, which would also have liked an ex emption, and the French, are both pressing for an earlier date than 1996.
Ministers will also try to agree on a 12m maximum trailer length, to stop designers cutting cab size. Talks among officials in Brussels have been inconclusive, with Britain and the Netherlands against a limit. D Channon made his views clear on lorry weights in the Commons last week. "My aim," he said, "is to resist attempts to end the United Kingdom's derogations in 1993 or at any other premature date. I shall therefore be negotiating at the June Transport Council for an end-date which takes proper account of the need to strengthen our bridges."