French people hold protests over rising fuel costs

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-04 20:46:48

PARIS, June 4 (Xinhua) --

French transporters, farmers, taxi drivers and fishermen have continued with their movement across France to protest against the soaring prices of fuel, pressing the government to speedily address the issue, the French media reported Wednesday.

With the government still unsure of how to best handle the issue of the prices that have pushed up the cost of doing business across the country, the protest marches and rallies, which began Tuesday, were set to continue, particularly in the Paris region on Wednesday.

French transporters within the Paris business district had organized protest events Tuesday morning following a call from the Organization of European Road Transporters (OERT), blocking a portion of roads in the busy capital.

The protest, which drew the participation of over 80 trucks andseveral dozen taxis, had resulted in major delays, before officials from French oil group Total agreed to meet the strikers.

In the wake of the modest success registered by the Tuesday events, the OERT has announced a series of new marches for Wednesday, including one near the office of Dominique Bussereau, France's secretary of state for transport.

The organization has further called on its adherents to continue preventing the free flow of traffic across the Paris region, especially towards the direction of the cargo area at Roissy airport.

Addressing reporters Tuesday, OERT national secretary Gilles Mathelie-Guinlet once again called on the government "to move quickly to ensure that the price of diesel is pushed back to the level where it was negotiated between carriers and their providers in January 2008."

On the other hand, the secretary of state for transport has indicated that he will continue holding consultations with road transport organizations Wednesday by notably receiving officials from France's Federation of Transport and Logistics Enterprises (TLF).

French farmers, who have so far waged a series of actions to force the government to intervene in the issue of the rising fuel prices, are now demanding fuel prices be scaled back to January levels.

The multiplication of protests and growing concerns over the faltering purchasing power of the French people has pushed President Nicolas Sarkozy to urge the European Union to consider a European-wide cut on VAT charged on fuel products. But so far, the European Union has refused to balk, with a senior commissioner saying that if implemented, Sarkozy's proposal "would send the wrong signal."

But the government is working hard to reassure the worst-hit sectors such as fishing, farming and transportation. On Wednesday, French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier was scheduled to hold discussions with senior ministry officials to prepare the ground for June 10 a roundtable that will attempt to come with a solution to rising energy prices.

Editor: An Lu

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