Unenlightened fail to agree on EU single plug

IN Belgium, they have two prongs and a hole in France two prongs, no hole in Britain and Ireland three rectangular prongs and a fuse and in Switzerland three round prongs. And that is how electric plugs will remain.

Cenelec, the European body which sets electrical standards, has finally pulled the plug on the Euro plug, after more than five years of wrangling over the merits and design of a harmonised system.

"Establishing a European single currency appears to be easier than establishing a European single plug," said Mr Nick Glover of the British Radio and Electrical Equipment Manufacturers' Association. It was "pitiful" that the best "plug and socket brains" in Europe were unable to agree a design for a Euro plug, he added.

European business travellers will still have to pack a little sack of adaptors while makers of electrical goods will have to modify their products for different markets.

Abandonment of the proposals marks a setback for the single market. For the European Commission, a harmonised plug was of symbolic importance.

Commercial, safety and technical objections - raised most vociferously by Germany and Britain - appear to have scuppered a deal between Cenelec's 18 members, which together account for 20 different plug and socket systems.

Yesterday Cenelec refused to reveal which countries had voted against the proposals, saying only that, for "various technical reasons" they had proved unacceptable to a number of national committees.

Some industry sources suggested, however, that plug and socket producers preferred not to open their national markets to greater competition from a harmonised Pan European plug.

Advocates of a harmonised system say the current situation carries costs for the consumer. "You and I pay a lot more for appliances because it costs manufacturers to fit different plugs," said Mr Simon Hossack, a campaigner for a harmonised system.

Plug and socket manufacturers believe there is little point in continuing efforts to standardise.

But many in favour of a harmonised plug and socket system will urge the European Commission to continue the fight for a single European plug.