EU draws up plans for first direct tax with fuel levy
The European Union is drawing up plans for its first direct tax with a "green" levy on petrol, coal and natural gas that could cost British consumers up to £3 billion.
歐洲聯盟正在為它的第一個直接稅擬定計劃，對汽油、煤炭和天然氣作“綠色”徵費，那可能價值英國消費者高達 30億英鎊。
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
Published: 7:18PM GMT 04 Mar 2010
The European Union is drawing up plans for its first direct tax Photo: Getty Images歐洲聯盟正在制定計劃，第一次直接稅 圖片：Getty圖像
Proposals expected to be announced next month would give the EU its first funding which would not come from national governments.
建議預期會在下月公佈，將給歐盟第一筆資金不是來自各國政府的。
Algirdas Semeta, the new European commissioner for taxation, is planning a "minimum rate of tax on carbon" across the whole EU as a "priority".
，新歐洲委員的稅務監督Semeta，正在為橫跨整個歐盟計劃一種，“優先”的“碳稅的最低稅率”。
"In my estimation it is possible to start discussions," he told European Voice, a weekly Brussels newspaper. "There is currently the right momentum."
“據我估計它是有可能去開始討論，”他告訴布魯塞爾的週報歐洲之聲，“現在是正確的勢頭。”
A similar proposal was considered so controversial that it was shelved without discussion five years ago.
一個類似的建議被認為那麼爭議性，五年前它未經討論便被擱置 。
The plan to push for more financial independence from national governments comes as the EU attempts to build a more powerful position in the world.
計劃去從各國政府推動更多的財政獨立，因歐盟試圖在世界建立一個更強大的地位。
Following the new Lisbon Treaty, the EU now has an expensive array of new institutions including a new President of Europe and a foreign minister with her own diplomatic service.
隨着那新的里斯本條約，歐盟現在有一系列的昂貴新機構，包括一個新的歐洲總統，和有她自己的外交服務的外長。
Hervé Jouanjean, Director General of the European Commission's Budget department, recently told a Brussels audience that the EU was "very close to paralysis" because of the reluctance of stretched national treasuries to give it funding.
"We should have a mechanism which would serve to exploit the possibility, in a progressive way, to lead to direct funding of the EU," he said.
Herman Van Rompuy, the new EU president, has already thrown his weight behind the idea of new taxes.
The new tax would lead to direct rises in petrol and energy bills and additional price increases due to higher costs for industry.
Open Europe, the think-tank, has calculated, on the basis of the shelved 2005 proposal that set a £9 levy on a tonne of CO2, that the cost of the new tax to British businesses and consumers would be £3.2 billion. The final cost could be even greater if electricity, generated from natural gas, was included in the levy.
Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, warned that "a single EU levy is an unnecessarily inflexible tool" that takes no account of existing national taxes or measures to cut climate change.
"A single flat rate will disproportionately hit poorer consumers who spend a larger share of theirincome on energy and fuel bills," he said. "It will also impose a disproportionate burden on small businesses, which are vital for economic recovery and growth. The EU needs a more flexible and proportionate approach to cutting carbon emissions."
France and Sweden are enthusiastic supporters of an EU carbon tax as a part of Europe's fight against climate change. While many countries have yet to take a position Britain has been a lone voice in opposition to the new Brussels tax.
"We do not support the idea of a mandatory pan-European carbon tax," said a British spokesman. "We believe that member states are best placed to choose the policy tools for achieving their climate-change objectives."
Under current European energy taxation law, the EU sets minimum tax rates for energy sources such as petrol, coal, and natural gas when they are used as motor and heating fuel or to produce electricity.
Under the current law, the tax to be paid is calculated according to the quantity of fuel that is consumed but the Commission wants this changed so that it is calculated according to CO2 emissions.
The idea of using fuel duties and eco-taxes to give the EU a direct and independent source of income has long been demanded by the Commission. Proposals currently circulating in Brussels could mean that all airline tickets, shopping and petrol station receipts in Britain list the amount of aviation tax, VAT or fuel duty that goes directly to Brussels as an "EU tax".
Details of the plan came as research by the AA has showed British drivers have been already been hit with higher tax rises on fuel, up to five times bigger than their counterparts in the rest of Western Europe since the end of the credit crunch.
Fuel duty and VAT on petrol has increased by 11.46 per cent since the end of November last year, compared with only 2.23 per cent in Austria. The UK rise is more than double the 5.07 per cent average for Western Europe as a whole.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/7370614/EU-draws-up-plans-for-first-direct-tax-with-fuel-levy.html
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