France gives more ground on fuel

Spanish farmers have blockaded new targets

France has announced new concessions on fuel prices, even though the fuel crisis - still reverberating around the rest of Europe - has already eased there.

The government had already agreed to cut diesel taxes by 15%. Now a petrol tax concession originally scheduled for January is being brought forward to the end of next week.

Member states must resist the temptation to resort to tax cuts

European Commissioner Loyola de Palacio

The surprise move came as European Union transport ministers prepared to meet in Luxembourg, to discuss the wildly different approaches to the crisis adopted by governments across Europe.

The European commissioner for transport and energy has already pleaded for governments not to use tax cuts to defuse the crisis.

The protest movement began in France and swept throughout Europe after the government agreed to axe diesel fuel duties.

Blockades

The EU meeting, called by France, should have been held in Brussels - scene of the biggest blockades - but has been switched to Luxembourg to try to minimise the threat of the talks themselves becoming blockaded.

Scenes of protests in Hamburg caught in a lorry driver's mirror

The crisis talks come as the scale of the fuel crisis continues to grow.

New protests were staged on Wednesday by Spanish fishermen and farmers, who blockaded fuel depots in the south and east, and shut down the Majorcan port of Palma.

"We're at the edge of an economic abyss," said a spokesman for the Majorcan Fishermen's Guild.

Swedish protesters have also kept up their blockade at the major port of Gothenburg, but Stockholm demonstrators allowed traffic to move again.

There is only one item on the agenda - the implications for transport of the current petrol problems

UK Government spokesman

The situation in Germany has also eased after large-scale protests earlier in the week.

Several governments - particularly the French and British - have suffered plummeting popularity as the crisis engulfed them.

Tax stance

The further French concession has highlighted the disagreements between countries on the best way to handle the crisis.

While some EU governments - including Italy and the Netherlands - gave tax concessions to the protesters, others refused to budge, or agreed to only peripheral changes.

Who's done what

France: 15% cut in diesel duties

Italy - tax cuts; rebates speeded up

Netherlands - $113m rebates deal

Belgium - no tax cuts, but other help agreed

Spain - no tax cuts, but aid package planned

Greece, Sweden, Norway - no concessions

Germany - no concessions, but hints of future tax breaks

UK - no concessions, but Labour popularity dives

Ireland - talks planned but early cuts ruled out

The BBC's correspondent in Brussels, Justin Webb, says the countries which gave ground to the protesters are expected to look for some kind of general statement approving of what they did.

They may also hint at the idea of harmonising European taxes and responses.

But other countries which made no concessions - including the UK and Germany - are expected to resist such moves.

According to officials, Britain's Transport Minister, Lord Macdonald, is likely to reiterate Britain's position that tax matters are the preserve of individual governments.

Any move towards cutting fuel taxes will also face strong opposition from environmental lobbyists.

Road chaos hit Germany as the crisis spread

The European Commission has also already made it clear that some of the deals brokered between governments and hauliers in an effort to end the protests might be investigated as potential breaches of EU rules on the giving of state aid.

The European Commissioner for transport and energy, Loyola de Palacio, has already made clear her opposition to concessions.

"Member states must resist the temptation to resort to tax cuts," she said.