As Fuel Protests Spread, Some Governments Give In

European truckers’ protests over high fuel prices spread Friday, backing up traffic for miles on highways from Spain to Poland. Some governments caved in while others refused, reflecting the political divisions on the continent.

In The Hague, truck and taxi drivers circled government buildings blaring their horns to demand tax breaks--an unusually boisterous protest in the Netherlands, a nation where politics usually proceeds by consensus and quiet negotiation. Other angry Dutch drivers dismantled highway barriers to escape traffic jams.

Strikers ruled many highways as protests reached into Spain, Germany, Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic. Thoroughfares were jammed in dozens of cities from end to end of Europe--from the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poland, to the Spanish coast.

The Italian government struck a deal with truckers to avoid a strike, and Belgium and Britain began returning to normal as their own protests eased.

The varying responses of the governments also showed a streak of disunity within the 15-member European Union. France--where the protests began--gave in to protesters’ demands for a tax break, but Britain refused to yield.

In Germany, where trucks, taxis and tractors blockaded the center of the northern city of Bremen for three hours, the government refused to back off a planned fuel tax increase. But it said it was looking for ways to ease pressure on the needy.

Taxi drivers in the Netherlands closed the tunnel from Amsterdam to Schiphol, choking off traffic to one of Europe’s busiest airports for an hour before dawn Friday.

A disruption of supplies of fuel or components brought some auto factories to a standstill in Germany and Belgium.

Britain, the worst-hit country, began returning to normal after protesters lifted a blockade of fuel depots and refineries. Motorists joined long lines outside gasoline stations to fill their tanks. The Department of Trade and Industry estimated that by Friday night, 26% of the nation’s 13,000 stations would have fuel again.

Fuel taxes in Europe range from 51% in Greece to 73% in Britain, where diesel cost an average of $4.33 a gallon last month. With public concern mounting over global warming partially caused by so-called greenhouse gases, the high tax rate has largely been accepted.

But crude oil prices have tripled since last December, reaching a level transport workers call a threat to their livelihood.