European leaders struggle to defuse oil price anger
Pastor Dale Morgan
European leaders struggle to defuse oil price anger*
AFP - Wednesday, May 28
PARIS (AFP) - - European leaders are struggling to defuse growing anger
over soaring fuel prices, as fisherman and truck drivers staged protests
in several countries, with more strikes planned in coming days.
The protests came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a
Europe-wide cut in oil taxes to help consumers and European ministers
appealed for direct EU economic aid to help the hard-hit fishing industry.
Fishermen and truck drivers were in the vanguard of the protests across
western Europe over rising fuel costs, amid recent record global oil
prices over 130 dollars a barrel.
French riot police cleared blockading fishermen from an oil depot at
Fos-sur-Mer near Marseille, but off the north coast of France, fishing
fleets resumed blockades of ports and cross-Channel ferries over high
fuel prices.
In London meanwhile, hundreds of angry haulage truckers, horns blaring,
drove their lorries in a rolling protest through the centre of the capital.
They handed in a petition to Downing Street demanding a rebate in fuel tax.
About a hundred lorry drivers staged a similar protest in the Welsh
capital Cardiff.
In Spain, lorry drivers joined striking fishermen in calling for
government help to cover soaring fuel costs, before a meeting between
road transport firm bosses and transport ministry officials.
Italian, Greek and Portuguese fishermen may strike later this week.
Sarkozy said in a radio interview on Tuesday: "I want to ask the
question to our European partners: if oil continues to increase, should
we not suspend the VAT taxation on the price of oil?"
The effect of skyrocketing fuel prices on fishermen has steadily gained
attention throughout the continent, and European ministers on Tuesday
called for direct EU economic aid to the industry.
French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier, on the sidelines of an
informal meeting of his EU counterparts in Slovenia, said other EU
ministers had agreed that "a budget should be earmarked" for economic
assistance to fishermen.
Spanish Agriculture Minister Elena Espinosa Mangana called for direct EU
intervention.
Sarkozy's government has already promised a 310 million euro (485
million dollar) emergency aid plan for French fishing fleets, though
many fisherman, dissatisfied with the offer, have continued their actions.
Portugal's economy minister Manuel Pinho on Tuesday called on the
Slovenian head of the European Union to hold an urgent debate on the
crisis, to identify "short- and long-term measures" to minimise the
effect of high oil prices.
On Tuesday the price of a barrel of crude oil fell in New York 3.34
dollars to close at 128.85 dollars a barrel; in London, the price of
Brenth North Sea crude fell 4.06 dollars to 128.31 dollars.
But Europe's political leaders were under no illusion that the problem
was going to go away.
Brown faces mounting pressure from lawmakers in his ruling Labour Party
to abandon a planned hike in road tax. British truck owners say they
face unfair competition from continental haulers who they say can buy
cheaper fuel.
And Sarkozy's proposal came amid three weeks of protests from fishermen
and pressure to address France's cost of living, with polls showing it a
top concern among the public.
French consumers pay about 19.6 percent VAT on the price of fuel.
Sarkozy said he could not take a unilateral decision to suspend or cap
the tax. But he warned that the price of oil "is going to continue to
increase."
France would channel additional revenue from VAT on oil products into a
fund to help those struggling with higher fuel prices, he said. That
would generate 150-170 million euros per quarter, he predicted.
But a European Commission spokesman warned against tinkering with VAT on
oil, as the French president had suggested.
"We would be saying that we can raise oil prices and this will be paid
for by the taxes of Europeans. This would, in principle, be a very bad
signal that we do not want to send," the spokesman on energy issues said.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon meanwhile said the country had to
boost its nuclear power to address the problem. "We are dealing with a
long-term increase of the price of oil."
On Monday, The Czech, Slovak and Lithuanian premiers advanced a similar
argument at the Nuclear Energy Forum in Prague.