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FUEL COST * UK - British PM Warns of Global Oil "Shock"
As Fuel Price Protests Spread
London,UK -Agence France Presse/Trouthout -29 May 2008: -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Wednesday that the world faced an era-defining oil "shock" that required urgent action, as European leaders argued how best to contain protests over soaring fuel prices... "It is now understood that a global shock on this scale requires global solutions," Brown wrote in The Guardian newspaper... Record oil prices of around 135 dollars a barrel have contributed to protests worldwide over the rise in fuel and food costs, with fishermen and truck drivers taking the lead in Europe, blocking ports and road access to oil depots... Brown's warning came a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged a Europe-wide cut in consumer taxes on fuel... French consumers pay about 19.6 percent VAT on the price of fuel and Sarkozy renewed his reduction proposal on Wednesday during a visit to Warsaw... But Austrian Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer gave the idea short shrift... Portugal's economy minister Manuel Pinho called on Slovenia, as current head of the European Union, to hold an emergency debate on the crisis, but Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said it would have to wait for the scheduled EU summit next month... In Bulgaria, where annual monthly salaries are among the lowest in the EU and inflation rates among the highest, around 150 trucks drove slowly along capital Sofia's ring road, disrupting traffic. Bulgarian bus companies were preparing to launch a nationwide one-hour strike on Friday... In Spain, the main trucking union has called for an indefinite strike beginning June 8... "Short-term solutions are the most popular in political terms, but they have no lasting effect," said Portuguese Agriculture Minister Jaime Silva... (Photo: AFP / Marcel MochetA fisherman pours oil on the pavement in front of French police during a protest in western France against high fuel costs. 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) Labels: fuel costs crisis
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