'This is a pretty effective restriction of trade against the UK haulage industry'
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4 1 n June European Community transport ministers proposed that other member
countries should pay £1,000 per truck per annum for operating in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Denmark in an attempt to harmonise the costs of road useage across the EC.
At the proposed rate each UK registered truck will pay the full annual domestic road tax for one Dutch truck; 12 Danish trucks; 1.5 Luxembourg trucks or 1.7 Belgian trucks. For example, a 38-tonne artic running on three axles covering 150,000km a year at 8mpg costs a UK haulier £31,576 a year to run including fuel and all taxes. The same vehicle would cost a Luxembourg haulier £19,901, or £972 less per month. The UK haulier pays £3,100 tax compared with £683 for his Luxembourg counterpart. Trucks from these countries will then be able to compete in the UK domestic market, subsidised by the very trucks they are competing against. The distortion international hauliers have been fighting for years will be even worse in the UK home market. It is quite feasible that a Belgian or Luxembourg haulier will be able to undercut a UK haulier for, say, Sainsbury's traffic and still retain a better profit margin. I have seen contracts lost for tens of pounds let alone hundreds or thousands. The proposed system does not provide for foreign hauliers to have to pay a similar amount to the UK authorities. Not only are we subsidising the competition but the UK Government will not benefit from increased revenue.
A UK haulier currently has to pay: • Swiss road tax (by the day); • Austrian road tax (by the tonne/km); • French motorway tolls; • Italian motorway tolls; • Spanish motorway tolls; • Portuguese motorway tolls.
The hauliers from these countries pay nothing when in the UK. The new proposal insists that all foreign trucks over 12 tonnes will pay Germany, Denmark and Benelux countries £1,000 per year to use these countries' motorways. The proceeds from this tax will be split between the various countries in different percentages and this would appear to be fair (if a reciprocal arrangement was in force for the UK) until one looks at the exemptions built into the agreement: • Eire and Portugal will be exempted because of "geographical positions"; • Spain will be exempted because of its "economic position"; • Greece will be exempted because of the"Bosnian position"; • France and Italy have motorway tolls in place and so collect revenue from the five recipient countries.
This group of six plus the benefiting five adds up toll. The UK is the 12th—and is therefore the only net contributor to the five countries I would say this is a pretty effective restriction of trade against the UK haulage industry and contravenes the treaties of Rome and Maastricht.
It has to be stated that the German and UK domestic tax is some £800 in the UK's favour so! see no objection to a UK haulier paying 1800 per year to use German roads. In addition a German truck should not pay to use our roads.
But I would also argue that all the other countries of the EC whose trucks pay considerably less than the UK, especially Italy and France, should pay the extra tax to use UK roads.
Alternatively, UK trucks should pay no extra tax in all the other countries, including French, Spanish and Italian motorway tolls, provided that all the other countries' trucks pay no tax when in the UK. /