Belgian truckers blocked main roads in the heart of Brussels for a second day yesterday, as protests at the price of fuel rippled across the continent.
Similar action was seen for the first time in the Netherlands while the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, agreed to meet drivers tomorrow.
But echoing tough talk by Tony Blair in London, the German transport minister, Reinhard Klimmt, said his government would not follow the example of France which, after six days of unrest, agreed last week to subsidise soaring fuel prices. Sporadic protests continued in French cities, despite the controversial concessions.
In Brussels - where the European Commission is worrying about the inflationary effects of the rising oil price but simultaneously opposing any further cuts in fuel taxes - traffic ground to a halt on the Rue de la Loi, in the heart of the EU quarter of the city.
The Belgian transport minister, Isabelle Durant, refused to meet the protesters until they opened the road outside her office. Riot police stood by but without intervening.
When talks did get under way no agreement was reached, however. One drivers' union vowed to bring the entire country to a standstill if the government did not give into its demands. Sunday's decision by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to raise production by 800,000 barrels a day had no immediate impact on the protests.
Outside Brussels, lorry drivers blocked off Belgium's largest oil refinery at Feluy, near Charleroi, run by TotalFinaElf.
In the Netherlands there were truck blockades at Rotterdam and Breda. "Lots of smaller companies are on the verge of bankruptcy because of the high prices," said Ruben Hubbers, spokesman of the Resistance party, which organised yesterday's action.
In Dublin, the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Gerry McMahon, said he was pleased about the planned meeting with Mr Ahern, but warned that protests by drivers would go on if the government failed to cut the petrol tax right away.
"We haven't changed our attitude. Twenty per cent immediately is the least we will accept," he told RTE Radio. The government's spokeswoman said Mr Ahern would consider truckers' concerns only "within a budgetary context".
