Brussels, 20/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Frits Bolkestein confirmed during Tuesday's Ecofin Council in Brussels that the Commission has no immediate plans to change the legislation setting minimum excise rates for tobacco, as requested by France (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.7). "We reached agreement in 2002 to increase the minimum excise threshold on tobacco. Negotiations were not easy, as it involved tax increases in most Member States, with the political consequences this may have...