Brussels, 24/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 June, the EU college of commissioners discussed whether to revise Directive 2003/96/EC on the taxation of energy products like diesel, ethanol, natural gas and coal (see EUROPE 10152). The general aim of any changes would be introduce a carbon footprint calculation in fuel duty, changing the current EU rules which tax fuel according to the amount used. Such a change to the tax basis would help the EU meet its emissions reduction targets and might only be introduced with transition periods and compensatory measures to industries not already covered by the EU's ETS (carbon trading system), such as farming, fish farming, household fuel consumption and the coal industry, which together total half of the EU's pollution emissions.
The Commission highlights the fact that the college of commissioners backs the general aims argued by EU Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta, and has asked him to examine further impact assessments before any changes are made. Outside the Commission, commentators have a different interpretation of yesterday's debate. The Irish and British commissioners (Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and Catherine Ashton) are reported to have expressed doubts about giving the EU greater tax-raising powers. The president of the Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, is reported to have himself expressed doubts about Europeans rejecting the move, seeing it as a new EU tax. Šemeta has not been given a deadline for reporting back to fellow commissioners with suggested changes so this has to be seen as putting the issue on the back-burner.
Šemeta has circulated a memorandum, which was used for the commissioners' debate. The document uses the example of one of the most polluting forms of fuel, diesel, to calculate the increase in minimum excise duty the changes would introduce, assuming carbon is taxed at a rate of €20 a tonne. The minimum excise duty for diesel is currently €330 per 1000 litres, and this would rise to €412.20 under the new system (€54.90 for the carbon emissions tax and €357.30 for the energy tax). In return, new EU rules would create real incentives for using fuel generated by using renewable energy sources because the carbon section of excise duty on them would be zero. (M.B./transl.fl)