Commission to propose carbon tax on energy

The Commission intends to adopt a proposal on a carbon tax on energy use before the summer, following months of internal discussions (see February 2010 Editorial). The purpose for such tax would be to introduce a CO₂ element into the 2003 Directive on Taxation of Energy Products and bring it into line with the EU’s climate objectives.

However, the Council of Ministers is obliged to achieve unanimity on any EU tax proposal, and some Member States - the UK for example - are hostile to the proposal. In its editorial last month, CEMBUREAU suggested that France  - which is keen on the idea - should take up the matter at EU level and propose that the ETSⁱ be scrapped to be replaced by a European carbon tax covering all emission sources including those currently in the ETS (see January 2010 editorial). How emissions linked to imported products would be treated might then perhaps be more easily defined.