Full cabotage due by 1995
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• Hauliers will be free to carry out domestic work within any EC country from 1993.
The liberalisation of the cabotage laws was laid down in draft legislation by the European Commission last week. The present permit system limits the number of domestic trips hauliers can make in a foreign country.
Unrestricted trade will mean that a Manchester-based firm, for example, will be free to bid for work from Hamburg to Munich, while a Continental operator will be able to compete with UK hauliers for loads from Glasgow to Tilbury.
Announcing the proposal, EC Transport Commissioner Karel van Miert blamed traffic congestion on a third of lorries running empty. Cabotage will be limited to 5% of national markets from 1993, with full liberalisation by 1995.
EC members will be able to ask the Commission to impose restrictions until 1995 if they feel that foreigners are grabbing an unfair share of their domestic haulage markets.
Statistics show that so far British hauliers have been slow to pick up on cabotage opportunities. According to the DTp only 52% of the cabotage permits allocated to UK operators between July 1990 and 1991 were actually used.