Polluting Fuels Face Higher Taxes Under Europe’s Green Overhaul

(Bloomberg) -- Europe is proposing higher taxes on the most polluting energy products as it seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.

“Our existing Energy Taxation Directive sets out EU-wide minimum excise duty rates for energy products,” the EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday. “These rules nearly two decades old and woefully out of sync with today’s policy goals.”

The European Union is planning to revise its energy taxes under the Green Deal, a sweeping strategy to make every sector of the economy more sustainable. A draft law will be proposed in June as part of a broader package of measures aimed at putting the bloc on track to meet a stricter 2030 goal of cutting emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels.

The planned revamp will see the most polluting energy products subject to higher taxes. At the same time, the European Commission is encouraging national governments to introduce green taxes and move away from policies that hamper economic growth.

“Lifting subsidies, exemptions and tax breaks for polluting activities could help accelerate the green transition in our member states while making their tax systems fairer for workers,” Gentiloni said.

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