Brussels, 11/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Taxation Commissioner Frits Bolkestein's tentative idea about harmonising excise duty on wine may well wither on the vine, following the discussions of the idea at the Commissioners' College on Wednesday (see Europe of 7 September, p.8). Some sources suggest that 14 of the 20 Commissioners oppose this harmonisation idea on the grounds that the political damage wreaked by such an unpopular measure in wine producing countries meant it would not be worth taking in order to eliminate distorted competition in less than half of Member States. Commissioner Bolkestein, supported by the British and Danish Commissioners, argues the case for harmonisation.
Commission spokesperson Jonathan Faull told reporters that the discussions had focussed on problems of competition distortion between Member States, contraband, alcohol's impact on health and respecting cultural diversity. He said the Commission had decided to take into account the various positions expressed and to make proposals at an appropriate date, adding that the College had recognised that there was a genuine problem that merited reflection.
The 1992 directive on alcohol excise duty sets zero duty on wine and EUR 0.748 per hectolitre per Plato degree or EUR 1.87 per hectolitre per degree of alcohol for beer. Brewers have already protested at this gap and the UK and Denmark, which levy much higher duty than their neighbours, want competition distortion in the single market to be dealt with. Excise duty on wine is EUR 250 per hectolitre in the UK, EUR 235 in Finland, just over EUR 141 in Denmark, and 0 in Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal. France levies EUR 3.4 per hectolitre. Bolkestein's spokesperson, Jonathan Todd, said that wine is smuggled from France and the UK, and from Germany to Denmark.
Several Commissioners argued that harmonisation would be disproportionate since cross-border trade only accounts for 3% of the wine trade, with the vast majority of wine produced in the EU being drunk in the country of origin. Commissioners from wine-producing countries raised the cultural aspect of wine and even religious aspects in their favour. In a Luxembourg newspaper last week, Commissioner Viviane Reding attacked Commissioner Bolkestein's "fundamentalism".