The Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU has decided to include the legislative package on excise duties on the agenda of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) on 8 November in order to make a new attempt at a political agreement ('general approach'). However, the adoption of the package, which requires unanimity in the EU Council, remains suspended on Romania's position.
The Council hopes to avoid another episode like that of the Ecofin Council last May (see EUROPE 12257/1), where Romania - which at the time held the Presidency of the EU Council - blocked the adoption of the regulation on administrative cooperation regarding the content of the electronic register and the Directive on the general arrangements for excise duty, because the Member States were not prepared to support an exemption they wanted, in a third piece of legislation, also blocked, namely the directive on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol (see EUROPE 12211/15).
More than five months later, progress on this dossier is still stuck on the annual quantitative limit to be set in order to benefit from an exemption from excise duty or reduced rates for ethyl alcohol distilled from fruit by individuals for personal use.
The Presidency compromise text now provides for a maximum limit of 50 litres per year for all Member States (see EUROPE 12252/2). Romania, on the other hand, would like a much higher threshold, around 100 litres per year.
According to a European source, at the meeting of Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Wednesday 30 October, the 50-litre limit seemed to be an acceptable compromise for all Member States, except the Czech Republic, which was still hesitant. Romania, for its part, tried to discourage the Finnish Presidency from putting the issue on the agenda of the ECOFIN Council, considering that more time was needed.
The formation of a new government in Romania, which is expected to be decided by the Romanian Parliament on Monday 4 November, could unblock the situation. The former Romanian Finance Minister, Eugen Teodorovici, seemed to have made this issue a personal matter.
According to a European source, there are therefore currently three possible scenarios. The most optimistic would be an agreement on all three texts. Another scenario would be for Romania to agree to separate the two consensus texts and for an agreement to be reached on them at least. Finally, a third possibility would be for Romania to persevere in its blocking strategy and continue to hold the three texts hostage.
The possibility that the item will be removed from the agenda if the new Romanian government is not formed by the time of the ECOFIN Council meeting can also not be ruled out. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)