More Fuel Trouble
Fuel Protests Spread Across Europe
Sept. 18 — The wave of fuel price protests sweeping through Europe
regained momentum today after a weekend lull, forcing already shaken
governments to implement political damage control measures.
In
Norway, truckers called a wildcat strike and blocked 11 oil
terminals at
key ports along the south and west coasts, but later called
off their protest
under threat of police action.
The truckers gave up the call for a
strike after state oil firm
Statoil asked police to stop the blockade,
citing economic losses and a
risk of claims from large customers if it
continued.
“Statoil has reported the blockade to the police and we
have
therefore decided to call off the demonstrations immediately,” the
independent Car Owners’ Interest Associations said in a statement today.
Norway underwent a weekend of panic especially in remote areas of the
country where cars are a vital part of everyday life.
Oil companies
said that Norway’s 3.2 million barrels per day output
had been unaffected
by the blockade. The nation is the second biggest
exporter after Saudi
Arabia.
Sweeping the Continent
Protests in Europe centered around
Scandinavia but blockades sprang up at
the Spanish port of Barcelona and
in Slovenia. Israeli truckers threatened
to stage their own demonstrations
starting on Tuesday.
Spain was the focus of some tough action as fishermen
in Barcelona
sealed off the port and truckers laid siege to fuel distribution
points in
the center of the country.
In Sweden, truckers
and farmers today blocked access to ferries,
which are the country’s lifeline
to the rest of Europe. Similar actions
were taken in Denmark.
In the Netherlands, go-slow protests, which caused rush-hour misery
last week, were suspended after a major demonstration Friday as truckers,
taxi drivers and farmers were mulling government offers of a series of
rebates and tax concessions.
The German government was scrambling
to achieve unity within its own
ranks ahead of a planned major boycott
campaign by truckers and farmers
scheduled to start Thursday.
Austria has not experienced any protests, so far even as the
government
is holding out the prospect of doubling the annual winter
heating cost
allowance for lower income families. These are only available
in some provinces.
The government wants to expand them nationwide.
The British Lesson
Most European governments were plunged into action after the bruising
Britain’s Labor government received following the hard line adopted by
Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Polls across the continent showed that
the general public strongly
supported the blockades. A weekend poll in
Britain put the opposition
Conservatives ahead of Labor for the first time
in eight years
As gasoline supplies in Britain gradually got back to
normal, the
government said it would ask oil companies to sign a joint
memorandum
outlining respective duties in case protesters angry about high
fuel
prices staged another blockade.
A task force of government
ministers and oil representatives was
scheduled to meet this afternoon
to discuss the memorandum, which the
government would like signed ahead
of planned legislation obliging oil
companies to maintain fuel deliveries
at all times.
This would put them on the same footing as essential
services like
gas and water.
“It will formalize what the
responsibilities were on the government
should there be a repeat of things,
and what the responsibilities were on
the oil companies,” Blair’s spokesman
said.
Legislation would not be introduced before late November, he
indicated. “We want to legislate quickly, because a structural weakness
has been shown in the events of last week,” he said.
“But
we can’t have policy dictated to us…the government is not
conducting its
business or working towards an arbitrary 60 day deadline
that has been
given to us.”
Ireland Joins Fray
Irish fishermen today said they
would tie up their boats in ports around
the country in a 24-hour protest
over high fuel prices.
Up to 90 percent of the country’s fishing fleet
is expected to join
the 24-hour stoppage, scheduled to begin at midday
on Tuesday, said a
spokesman for Ireland’s fishermen’s organizations.
“We’re asking our members in various key ports to join what is a
token protest at fuel prices,” said Joey Murrin, chief executive of the
Killybegs Fishermen’s Organization in the northwestern county of Donegal.
High fuel prices had hit the fishing industry hardest, causing losses
estimated at $16.3 million in the first eight months of the year, he said.
“We’re here and we’re in trouble. If this situation continues we’ll
be tying up our boats permanently,” he added.
ABCNEWS.com's Sue
Masterman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed
to this report.
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