Hello all,
Well, what can I say...the horror story recounted below will almost
certainly happen. It will be hard on the English, and the loss to all of us
will be very great.
This is what happens when a country gives up its sovereignty to a bunch of
unelected miniature dictators in a foreign country. The British would have
been far better off in a trade agreement with the US. At least we have
something in common.
You enthusiasts in the UK better get busy. Time is running out. Time to
beat up on your officials or better yet, dump the EEC.
BTW, has anyone seen a "Euro" with the phony pictures of mythical places on
the bills? We almost rolled off the bench we were sitting on when we saw
one!!
Best wishes and regards,
Ray
> BRITAIN'S classic car lovers could be forced to scrap
> thousands of their most cherished historic vehicles under
> European legislation originally designed to deal with the
> problem of abandonded cars.
>
> The draconian rules, drawn up because of the 600,000
> vehicles abandoned throughout the European Union each year,
> have already been approved by the European parliament and
> could be in place by the end of the year.
>
> Britain is the world's most important classic car market and is
> home to more than 300,000 such vehicles. Under the
> legislation, local authorities would acquire sweeping powers to
> redefine disused vehicles as waste, meaning they could be
> removed - even from private property - and sent to recycling
> centres. It also allows for strict controls on the storage and
> treatment of vehicles that are no longer roadworthy, even if
> they are vintage vehicles awaiting restoration. Again,
> environmental health inspectors would be empowered to
> remove such vehicles from private property.
>
> Members of the European parliament realised that the law
> could affect historic cars, many of which are kept off-road by
> private owners, or which are stored as broken-down parts.
> They tabled an amendment to exempt them, but it was
> removed, apparently at the insistence of the German green
> parties.
>
> British motoring organisations say the legislation, which the
> government will be under pressure to implement, could
> threaten up to 50,000 cars. Edmund King, executive director
> of the RAC's research arm, said: "Our fear is that inspectors
> could descend on people's homes, take away an old car they
> are lovingly restoring and turn it into a lump of scrap metal."
>
> Vintage cars in roadworthy condition or any kept in formal
> collections, such as that of Lord Montague of Beaulieu,
> founder of the National Motor Museum in Hampshire, would
> not be under threat - but the majority of vintage cars are in the
> hands of private individuals. They include many people from
> the music world, such as Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer,
> Chris Rea and Jay Kay, singer with Jamiroquai.
>
> Last week Kay, who owns a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, a 1973
> BMW 3.0 CSL Batmobile and 11 other vehicles, said he was
> shocked. Stirling Moss, the motor racing legend who also
> collects historic cars, said: "There's a lot of junk around, but
> some of these cars are irreplaceable. They are part of our
> cultural heritage." Jackie Marriott, organiser of today's London
> to Brighton classic car rally, said the legislation threatened the
> future of the event.
>
> Caroline Jackson, Tory MEP for Wiltshire North and Bath,
> who supported the amendment, said: "The European
> commission seems to be dancing to the greens' tune."
>
> The battle to save the cars is, however, not over yet. The
> RAC and the UK Motor Sports Association have asked
> Michael Meacher, the environment minister, to put pressure
> on his European colleagues.
>
> Peter Jorgensen, a spokesman for Ritt Bjerregaard, the
> environment commissioner, said: "This is typical of the
> anti-Brussels stories that are always appearing in Britain."
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