The
EU's new taxation commissioner, Algirdas Šemeta, will revive debate on
harmonised minimum CO2 tax rates on fuels at EU level, and plans to table fresh
proposals as early as next month, it has emerged.
The commissioner wants to discuss
the legislation with his colleagues in the college of commissioners in the
second half of April, with a view to presenting proposals in April or May, a
Commission spokesperson said.
But she admitted that the
timetable would depend on how the internal discussions go, and said May could
be a more realistic goal.
The proposal would overhaul the
EU's existing energy taxation directive to bring it into line with the bloc's
environmental priorities. Currently, the law sets minimum tax levels that EU
states must levy on fuels according to volume consumed.
By contrast, the upcoming
proposals would base taxation on the CO2 content of the fuels on the one hand,
and their energy content on the other. This means that fuels like coal, which
emits a large amount of CO2 but has a low energy content, would be taxed most
heavily.
Šemeta's predecessor László Kovács had already made it a priority to
introduce a CO2 tax back in 2008, but his draft proposals proved too
controversial to pass through the Commission.
But Šemeta believes that the
momentum is now right to table new proposals, with a new Commission in place
and pressing climate change commitments on the horizon, his spokesperson said.
She said that the proposals would
be based upon the same concept as the draft worked out by the previous
commissioner. This time, however, they would include some "fundamental
differences" that should make the legislation more acceptable.
For instance, drafts prepared
under Kovács would have set a minimum tax rate of €10 per tonne of CO2 emitted,
but this would not apply in the new proposal, the spokesperson said. The
Commission services are now revising the impact assessment for the revamped
directive in order to determine the appropriate levels, she added.
A growing number of member states are introducing carbon taxes, joining
Nordic countries
Sweden
,
Finland
and
Denmark
,
which have been applying them since the early 1990s. In
France
, President Nicolas Sarkozy is battling to get national legislation
through constitutional hurdles.
Consequently, the
UK
, the most vocal opponent to EU-mandated environmental taxes, is looking
increasingly isolated. Šemeta's proposals would, however, require the unanimous
endorsement of all member states.
(
from Euractiv)