News

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has lodged an official complaint with the EC demanding that it takes action against the French government for failing to prevent Channel port blockades. It also seeks to secure compensation for those hauliers affected by the disruption.

According to the FSB, the most recent blockade in April cost the UK a total of £6m.

FSB chairman of EU and international affairs Tina Sommer says: "The French government's failure to prevent these blockades  is a breach of its obligations under the EC Treaty. Its subsequent failure to bring these disputes to a close quickly and its failure to compensate haulage firms that have suffered as a result only makes matters worse."

The FSB's demands are backed by both the FTA and the RHA, as well as Kent County Council. FTA director of communications Jo Tanner says: "If the French government isn't willing to be a good neighbour and get its own house in order, then the EC must act if it is serious about supporting economic success in Europe."

RHA head of international affairs Peter Cullum notes that the so-called 'strawberry protocol' - the directive that compels EU member states to keep TENS routes open - does not provide for penalties to be paid by states that are in breach of their duty.

However, he adds that the fishermen's blockade is effectively 'secondary industrial action' (ie rather than protest by not going fishing, they interrupted essential services not related to  their business) and that therefore the protocol's protection of the right to demonstrate may be invalid.

The FSB cites the 17m franc compensation the French government had to pay to UK and Spanish farmers in the 90s after French farmers destroyed goods in transit (which led to the creation of the strawberry protocol) as a precedent. If the FSB is successful, it will demand total compensation of £700,000 to be shared among its haulier members.

For more information, go to http://www.stoptheblockades.org/.