WRITTEN QUESTION E-0168/00 by Alejandro Agag Longo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Road blockade by French lorries.
C 280 E/192 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 3. 10. 2000 (2000/C 280 E/223) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0168/00 by Alejandro Agag Longo (PPE-DE) to the Commission (31 January 2000) Subject: Road blockade by French lorries In recent years, we have repeatedly witnessed strikes and, lately, blockades of intra-Community frontiers by French lorry drivers, with the inevitable adverse effects this produces on the development of the internal market. It is no accident that these protests coincide with the period when certain products are exported from the Iberian peninsula, with the result that it is Spanish and Portuguese hauliers who really suffer the effects, as well as the other sectors concerned, since their only point of entry to the rest of the Community market is via France. What firm measures will the Commission take in future to resolve this problem and prevent actions which recur each year at the same time and whose ultimate effect is losses running into millions for the economies of Spain and Portugal? Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (16 March 2000) The Honourable Member has drawn the Commissionís attention to the considerable economic impact on Community businesses of the border blockades imposed by French hauliers, particularly in recent weeks. The Commission would like to stress that under Community law it is the responsibility of the Member States to take all necessary and proportionate measures to restore the free movement of goods in their territory when events of this nature take place. With regard to the measures which the Commission may take, the Honourable Member is referred to Council Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 of 7 December 1998 on the functioning of the internal market in relation to the free movement of goods among the Member States (1), which allows the Commission to take rapid action in this type of situation. This action can, initially, take the form of a request for information sent to the Member State on whose territory the obstacles occur. Indeed, the Commission used this option when hauliers took action on 10-11 January 2000 and from 31 January 2000 to 1 February 2000. On each occasion, within the given time limit of two days, the Commission received information from the French authorities on the state of the dispute and on the measures taken to avoid blockades. Subsequent Commission action can take the form of a notification requesting the Member State to take all necessary and proportionate measures to restore the free movement of goods within a given time limit. The Commission has not yet made use of this second option. During the recent disputes, it did not consider it necessary because the border blockades were lifted. However, the Commission reserves the right to use this option where circumstances require it. The Commission would like to stress that, apart from the intervention provided for by Regulation (EC) No 2679/98, it is not within its remit to intervene in any social problems within the Member States which might result in action giving rise to the obstacles to which the Honourable Member refers. (1) OJ L 337, 12. 12. 1998