Brussels, 05/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the next few days the European Commission is expected to publish a Communication by Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, suggesting the gradual scrapping of car registration taxes for private vehicles over five years. The adoption of the text was blocked in July on the request of Commissioner Neil Kinnock (see Europe of 27 July, p.8 and 25 July, p.10). The Communication suggests that as a first step, car registration taxes in ten Member States should be brought closer together (all Member States except Germany, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK) and a scheme should be established for refunding registration tax between Member States when vehicles are registered in a different Member State. The Commission is proposing to transfer registration tax revenue to annual car tax. It also suggests that taxes on private cars take greater account of the targets for cutting CO2 emissions. The recommendations might be turned into proposed legislation following consultation with interested parties and Member States. The aim is to reduce distortions on the European car market caused by different levels of taxation. According to Commission data, registration tax varies from EUR 267 in Italy to EUR 1565 in Denmark, and annual road tax varies from EUR 30 in Italy to EUR 463 in Denmark.