News

The frightening prospect of unrestricted cabotage being introduced in 2014 has been averted for the time being, although foreign hauliers have been granted the right to carry out a maximum of three journeys in seven days from 1 January 2009. Transport minister Rosie Winterton fought the UK's corner at a meeting of the EU Council of Transport Ministers on Friday in Luxembourg, where she secured a compromise with her European counterparts.

Under the proposals, member states will be able  to protect the interests of their domestic transport industry by introducing "protective measures in case of serious disturbances of the national transport market".

Speaking to MT, James Hookham, FTA's director of policy, says: "We have to take the DfT's word for it that this gives us what we want. The proposals now go back to the European Parliament (EP) to finalise and then it will be up to the UK government to implement them in such a way as to prohibit contract work from being carried out by visiting foreign lorries." Roger King, RHA chief executive, says: "We have got a compromise with other member states over the context of the 'three journeys in seven', which is the best we could realistically have hoped for and better than we might have expected."

Hookham claims it is still an erosion of the UK market, but is "not the nightmare we feared". However, he adds that the threat of full liberalisation could resurface as the EP plans to conduct a review of the cabotage  rules in 2013/2014. On a positive note, Friday's meeting saw ministers agreeing to the creation of a pan-European electronic database of hauliers.