WRITTEN QUESTION E-2595/01

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 September 2001)

Subject: Pressure on Member States to harmonise their tax rates by reducing the price of petrol and diesel fuel

1. Does the Commission recall that the increase in the price of crude oil in summer 2001 also resulted in a rise in the price of diesel fuel and that, as a reaction to that rise, road haulage companies carried out campaigns to force the governments of the Member States to offset their increasing payments to the oil companies by a reduction in the long-standing taxation on liquid fuels for road transport?

2. Does the Commission also recall that various Member States reacted in different ways by taking measures which benefited the competitive position of the road haulage sector in their own country but that the United Kingdom, in particular, did not bow to this pressure for a tax cut?

3. Can the Commission confirm the report which appeared in the issue of the Sunday Times published on 9 September 2001 that, in a White Paper to be published shortly, it will be asking the British Government to reduce the cost of petrol by 10 % as a contribution towards tax harmonisation within the European Union?

4. What does it expect the results of the price cut referred to in Question 3 to be as regards the transfer of goods transport from rail to road, the extent of the use of fossil fuels and the increase in CO2 emissions?

5. Is the Commission taking into account the fact that Member States' tax revenues are needed for the fulfilment of the commitments they have undertaken vis-à-vis their inhabitants and for the preservation of a decent environment, all the more so since they are now prohibited from covering revenue shortfalls by increasing loans?

6. What is the relationship between the Commission's efforts to secure price cuts and the 1997 Kyoto and 2001 Bonn Agreements to reduce CO2 emissions?

7. Why is the Commission now seeking harmonisation since it is other Member States acting independently which have created a situation where the Member State which maintained the tax rate at the old level has succeeded in attaining an exceptional position?

8. Is the Commission prepared to promote the tax harmonisation it might desire by raising the prices of petrol and diesel fuel for motor vehicles where those prices are still not in line with the finiteness of petroleum reserves and with the impact of the burning of such fuels on the environment instead of urging an immediate implementation of tax cuts by Member States which did not previously apply such tax cuts?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(15 November 2001)

1. ,2. and 5. On 4 October 2000, following the sharp rise in petrol prices during the summer, the Commission published a communication entitled The European Union's oil supply(1) in which it stated that the petrol price rises should not be offset by tax cuts and that fiscal instruments must be used in a manner compatible with the economic policy guidelines and the commitments given on budgetary consolidation. This approach was subsequently confirmed in the Green Paper on Security of energy supply in the European Union(2), adopted by the Commission on 29 November 2000.

Most Member States gave in to pressure from road hauliers and lowered excise duties or other taxes, such as axle tax in the case of the United Kingdom.

3. and 4. The information published in the Sunday Times prior to publication of the Commission's White Paper on European Transport Policy For 2010: Time To Decide(3) was wrong.

In the White Paper the Commission considers a measure for harmonising the taxation of diesel consumed by road hauliers, in connection with proposals for charging for infrastructures and reviewing existing charges. The objective is not, then, to lower the price of road haulage.

6. ,7. and 8. Sustainable development requires consumers to take on board real prices which incorporate negative externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions.

The Commission therefore intends proposing a harmonised Community excise duty on diesel for commercial road haulage, which would be higher than the average current rate. Separating the taxation systems for fuels for commercial use and fuels for private use would also enable Member States to increase charges on diesel consumed by passenger vehicles, approximating them to the charges on petrol(4). The proposed innovations would satisfy the requirements of Community transport, environmental and energy policies.

(1) COM(2000) 631 final.

(2) COM(2000) 769 final.

(3) COM(2001) 370 final.

(4) Excise duties on diesel are approximately 140 per 1 000 l lower than those on petrol.