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Drivers' hours delay sought

21th January 1977
Page 5
Page 5, 21th January 1977 — Drivers' hours delay sought
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

WILLIAM -RODGERS, Minister of Transport, has urged the EEC to stop the clock on bringing in Euro-style drivers' hours rules to Britain.

He has asked the Commission to defer until the end of the year the application of the notorious EEC Regulation 543/69 to UK goods and passenger vehicles on internal journeys.

Britain's present deferment runs out on February 28 and the Minister's move has delighted the industry.

And because of recent changes in the corridors of power at Brussels, there is a good chance that the deferment request will be granted.

CM's European correspondent writes: "A spokesman for Richard Burke, the new Commissioner responsible for transport at the EEC, said that the UK's application was likely to be sympathetically received.

"The previous Commissioner for Transport, Scarascia Mugnozza, had indicated that the Commission would not be keen to extend deferment. "This had been in response to the possibility of the European Parliament taking the Council of Ministers to the European Court of Justice because of its lack of progress in implementing a common transport policy."

The Department for Transport said this week that a further postponement of 10 months is "desirable for economic reasons and because the Commission's proposals for altering 543/69 are still being considered," At the moment 543/69 requires an eight-hour driving day, as opposed to Britain's 10-hour day, and a maximum daily journey of 450km.

But a number of countries are pressing for changes and there is a suggestion that the rules should only apply to international journeys, with member states fixing their internal laws.

A spokesman for the Road Haulage Association said that it fully supported the deferment application. "We are hoping for a change in the regulations anyway," he said.

The Freight Transport Association was also happy with the move. "This is a logical step. It would be daft for us to implement the regulations only to have to change again if the regulation is altered."


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