The proposal from the European Commission (EU) to harmonise excise duties on diesel for road hauliers has been met with scepticism by the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
While the FTA welcomes the idea in theory, it believes the proposal is likely to be a 'non–runner' due to a reluctance from the EU hauliers – who currently pay half as much for diesel as UK drivers – to meet prices halfway.
Geoff Dossetter, head of external affairs at the FTA, said to freshinfo: 'The idea of harmonised diesel prices across the EU is something we've very interested in.
'In the UK we pay the highest diesel prices in the EU – and this causes problems for the transport industry, for UK industry as a whole and your readers.' Dossetter explains there are two problems with the proposal. One is the UK government is often not in favour of road users, and the other is the reluctance of EU hauliers to raise their diesel costs to 22p a litre.
He said: 'The UK government is willing to support the move, they're on the record as saying they would. But their budget is skewed towards road users. However, they will have to make changes in 2006 anyway as they've put in place measures for a distance tax, and for this to go through they will have to reduce another tax to compensate.
'Also, for the guys paying the EU minimum of 15p a litre at the moment, the notion from the Commission to persuade those countries to increase their rate to 22p seems unlikely.'