Parliament shoots down Commission’s energy tax plan

'Neutrality' should not be imposed to deprive diesel of its tax advantage over petrol, said a majority of Members of the European Parliament in a vote in the European Parliament on the 19 April 2012 on a proposal to reform energy taxation. The European Commission was proposing that the advantage it enjoys in most countries should be phased out.

[Note: this legislative proposal was withdrawn by the European Commission in March 2015]

• Primary Source

European Commission: RAPID: MEMO/12/262: Statement following the vote on the Energy Taxation Directive in the EP Plenary http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/262&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

ESO: Background information: EU tax plan would raise diesel price http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-tax-plan-would-raise-diesel-price/

European Parliament: Press Release, 19.4.12: Parliament opposes phase-out of diesel tax advantage http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20120419IPR43406/html/Parliament-opposes-phase-out-of-diesel-tax-advantage

EUR-LEX: Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2003/96/EC restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity - COM / 2011 / 169 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1465805483611&uri=CELEX:52011PC0169

---