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UK drivers to foot bill for EU green tax

Friday, 5th March 2010

UK motorists could soon be paying higher petrol prices thanks to an EU green tax due to be formally announced later this month.

Algirdas Semeta, the newly-appointed European commissioner for taxation, told European Voice, the weekly Brussels newsletter, that a direct tax on carbon is still a priority even after EU moneymen tried and failed to enforce a £9-a-tonne levy on CO2 in 2005.

"In my estimation it is possible to start discussions," he said of a move that would also see energy prices rise. "There is currently the right momentum."

The proposed new levy is especially worrying as it would be the first tax to bypass completely the governments of member states, with the money instead going directly to Brussels.

Mats Persson, director of the Open Europe think tank says the flat-rate tax will be a particular burden to poorer consumers who will be forced into spending a larger proportion of their income on energy and fuel bills. Open Europe estimates that British businesses and consumers will be landed with a bill in excess of £3.2bn a year.

"It will also impose a disproportionate burden on small businesses, which are vital for economic recovery and growth,” Persson said. "The EU needs a more flexible and proportionate approach to cutting carbon emissions."

News of the EU plans comes a week after UKIP peer Lord Monckton introduced parts of the Party’s climate change policy and warned that politicians are using flawed climate science to scare citizens into paying extra green taxes.

Read about why green taxes are unnecessary

Read about UKIP’s skeptical climate change stance

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