Dutch government to compensate truckers

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Dutch government to compensate truckers over fuel prices

In an unusual shift in policy, the Dutch Government has agreed to finance a package of subsidies for the transportation industry worth almost #200 million.

The agreement was reached in The Hague with representatives of the transport sector after nearly a week of protests by lorry drivers led to roadblocks and huge delays across the country.

Transport unions had threatened action on Tuesday, when Queen Beatrix is due to present the annual budget to parliament, after riding through The Hague in a horse-draw carriage.

Taxi, bus and haulage companies would receive a one-time subsidy worth about #79 million to compensate high fuel prices since January. Each company would receive a rebate for each litre of diesel fuel used since the beginning of the year, the report said.

Under the agreement, the Government will also structurally increase the annual rebate it gives companies using large volumes of diesel fuel.

It expected to spend an extra #120 million on the measure. Taxes for less pollutant fuels, including diesel with a low sulphur content, would also be reduced.

Besides the rebate, the report said, companies would be given an extra three months to pay backlogs of road taxes. Dutch taxes are among the highest in Europe, at about 70% of cost to the customer.

The cabinet under Prime Minister Wim Kok discussed the compensation on Friday as hundreds of trucks drove in convoys through the government city.

Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm said at the start of the protests he did not support a one-time financial injection because in might give lorry drivers the impression blockades were a good way to solve the problem of high fuel prices.

Last updated: 19:58 Saturday 16th September 2000.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_62172.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 16, 2000


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