Brussels, 11/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission said that it had received an answer from the French authorities Friday evening to its request for information on the state of the free movement of goods from other Member States on its territory. "The answer was somewhat succinct" declared the spokesman for Frtiz Bolkestein, European Commissioner responsible for the internal market; the French authorities simply noted that the free movement of goods was assured throughout the French territory, in all ports and airports and at border crossings.
All the barrages set up by the hauliers to demonstrate against the rise in the price of fuel were effectively lifted on Monday. "If problems should persist, the Commission will have to turn to the French response, but the obstacles to free movement have been lifted and the question has become hypothetical", the spokesman commented.
The latter recalled, at a general level, the conditions that the Fifteen have to respect regarding cutting taxes on diesel. Such a cut is totally legal if introduced for all economic sectors, respecting the minimum excise rate of 254 euro per 1000 liters. If only consented to certain sectors, the cut has to be notified to the European Commission and approved unanimously by the EU Council, he explained. France already benefits from such an exemption for 2000 in favour of hauliers; it may if it wants prolong the measure to 2001. Belgium, on the other hand, for now has no dispensation for commercial vehicles.
The European Commission also declared that it would be closely monitoring developments in the situation in Belgium and the United Kingdom, where hauliers were still demonstrating on Monday. Should there be a manifest impediment to the free movement of goods, it will ask the authorities concerned to intervene in these two countries, as in any other Member State involved in such type of actions.