Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-17-Speech-5-061"
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"en.20001117.6.5-061"2
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"Mr President, I thank the Commissioner for his explanation and for the fact that he came in to talk on this subject this morning. What he said is news to me because my understanding was that the proposal was a special tax on all foreign vehicles, which we assumed was all non-UK vehicles using the roads of the United Kingdom. I see this as a political gesture rather than as a political or fiscal measure. My understanding is that costs in the UK, taking into account the new proposals, without this particular charge are on a par with the rest of the European Union and on a similar level to French transport costs.
Even if the Commission says that a country may introduce that charge and put the same charge on its own vehicles, I still regard it as a distortion of the single market because presumably British hauliers will apply for their tax disc and every charge will be included in the single payment that they will make. Other users of British roads will be required to pay a special tax at the border on entry into the United Kingdom. No matter what the Commission thinks, this is a distortion of the single market and a distortion of free trade.
This proposal is particularly hard and vexatious for Ireland. Ireland, is obviously a very small but open market, yet most of what we buy comes from the United Kingdom. We buy GBP 11,000 million worth of goods from Britain annually as against only GBP 7,000 million from the rest of the European Union. That shows the extent to which Irish industry and commerce favour the British market, although with the current strength of the pound sterling, this situation will not be maintained if the value of the currency does not change. At the moment every Irish citizen buys EUR 5,000 of goods from Britain.
I believe that this measure is certainly contrary to free trade even with the improvement that has been mentioned by the Commission."@en1
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