surprise detente
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)MMENTING on his recent, ccessful second attempt at itaining three-year Lasing-in period for Britain the drivers' hours EEC Relation 543/69, Transport mister William Rodgers said was pleased and surprised. He was surprised at the lange of attitude by the .ench delegation. Only last tile the French objected rongly to any idea of Britain sing allowed a phasing-in riod fkr the regulation. They said any transition ?.riod was tantamount to reDgotiation of the Treaty of ccession. Now, apparently, ley have completely changed ieir minds.
But France has made sure mat Britain and Ireland will abide by the law. The French minister, Marcel Cavanle, has insisted the European Commission sets down guidelines and monitors the progress of the two countries towards implementing the regulation.
And Mr Rodgers said: "It is good news, but I don't think we should talk in terms of victories. The phasing-in period enables us to digest the rules, even though we don't like them.
"If it would have been chaos for the lorry drivers and our road haulage, it would have been more so for our buses. If we had not got three years, bus schedules would have gone haywire. There would have been an increase in costs, and the people who would have had to pay would have been passengers, who already feel they pay too much for the bus rides they take," he said.
While British officials hope that many aspects of the Regulation will change during the next three years, they expressed doubt that the European Commission would relax the rules on hours.
Agreement was reached at the Council that certain categories of vehicles and some journeys would be exempted from the tachograph.
But Commissioner Richard Burke warned that the Commission could still take Ireland to court, as it has already started to with the UK, for not introducing the tachograph on national journeys.