§ Sir Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will report the outcome of the meeting of the European Economic Community Council of Transport Ministers on 16 December 1982.
§ Mr. David HowellThe Council discussed a number of significant items, including future work on the question of EC support for transport infrastructure projects; road haulage tariffs; frontier facilitation; and vehicle weights and dimensions.
The Council reached agreement in principle on a regulation allowing 10 million ECUs to be spent on transport infrastructure projects in the Community. There was also agreement on a mandate for the Commission to negotiate improved arrangements with certain non-EC states for international coach shuttle services. A regulation implementing an earlier agreement on occasional coach services was adopted. The Council also agreed to make some minor changes to the way in which permits issued under the multilateral road haulage quota may be used, but was unable to agree any overall increase in the quota. The government will continue to press for an increase in road haulage quotas and for the relaxation of constraints on international road transport.