Brussels, 22/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission authorised a Swedish programme which exempts companies which consume a lot of energy from the energy tax, as long as they bring in an energy management system aimed at reducing their consumption.
At the moment, companies in the Swedish manufacturing sector pay a tax on energy of 5 krona (around 0.55 EUR) per MWh on the electricity they use as part of their production processes. This rate corresponds to the minimum level laid down by the directive of 27 October 2003 on energy taxation, which harmonises the taxation of energy products and energy between Member States. By virtue of the draft energy efficiency programme notified by the Swedish authorities on 11 June 2004, companies which produce a lot of energy will enjoy a full exoneration from the tax if they fulfil various conditions for a five-year period: they must set up an energy management system (including set objectives for energy reduction), and energy-saving measures. The Swedish authorities take the view that these measures will help to achieve energy saving to the tune of 2% of the country's total consumption.
Community rules allow national public authorities to grant subsidies with a view to encouraging the use of renewable energy sources and to promote energy saving. The exoneration from taxes on energy is admissible when it lies in the companies' interest to reduce energy consumption even further, by, for example, undertaking binding provisions in terms of environmental protection or equivalent commitments. The Commission believes that a company's participation in an energy efficiency programme satisfies this criterion. Furthermore, the programme is in compliance with the directive on energy taxation, which authorises total exoneration when heavy energy-consuming companies enter into agreements with the authorities. The conditions imposed by the programme are believed to allow at least as much energy to be saved as if the companies had paid the tax.
The Commission has already approved similar energy saving measures in the past, most notably in Denmark and the Netherlands, and measures encouraging the use of renewable energy sources.