In order to address this much-needed revision to the Energy Taxation Directive, a public consultation - ‘EU Green Deal – Revision of the Energy Taxation Directive’ - ran from 22 July to 14 October this year, bringing together the voices of citizens, NGOs, businesses, trade associations, national administrations and more. The result of this consultation is a document that aims to address various issues relating to existing and potential policy measures. It considers potential policy objectives for a revised Energy Taxation Directive, key priorities for energy taxation and looks at how tax might be structured, including standardization across member states rather than a base model to be flexed according to local markets.
With the EU recognizing the need to redesign its clean energy supply policies, following this public consultation the European Commission has an opportunity to consider all carbon pricing and policy measures together to ensure a consistent, holistic response that provides a clearly articulated policy accompanied by clear and simple taxation measures. This is, however, easier said than done.
As the next stage of review will look at the structure of energy taxation and its harmonization across EU member states, matters of consistency will be of paramount importance The Commission has some complex decisions to make, as adjustments could easily impair the effectiveness of any tax. The one thing that’s certain is that change is coming, and my hope is that this change will help us in achieving the long-term environmental objectives of the EU.