EU finance ministers weigh fossil fuel levies, aviation tax, in Helsinki
Finance Ministers of the European Union met in Helsinki over the weekend to discuss ways in which environmentally sustainable growth can be financed and supported.
The meeting, which was hosted by Finland's Finance Minister Mika Lintilä, was an informal one, with no concrete decisions made and little information released.
Finland, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, has said that the focus of its presidency will be on the impact of economic policies on the climate and environment; a stance given strong backing from France, Germany and others.
Reuters has claimed, citing unnamed top officials as sources, that the EU is considering new energy taxes, including on the aviation sector, to meet climate targets.
Despite being at the forefront of the global transition to renewable energy in the past ten years, the EU's energy taxation rules have not been updated since 2004.
They are "outdated and poorly adapted to climate change challenges and developments in energy policy at EU level," said a draft document discussed in Helsinki, according to Reuters.
Some of the measures laid out in a document prepared by the Finnish presidency include fossil fuel levies, minimum tax rates on energy and an end to waivers for aviation and maritime transport sectors.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said that "drastic steps" are needed to tackle climate change, advocating a more international approach to emissions trading.
"We are currently in a situation where many say 'we'd like to do something on a national level, but no one else is,'" he told DW.
"We're in the process of finding out how we can limit CO2 consumption in agriculture, small businesses or transport," he added.
His counterpart from France Bruno Le Maire, gas called for tough action on European airlines, which at present are exempt from tax and benefit from other waivers which allow it to compete with those outside the bloc.
Mr Le Maire says that the aviation sector must step up and contribute more to climate measures "either with taxes or with the purchase of more allowances" from the EU's emissions trading system.
The EU's top economic commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, told a press conference that the options being considered included a carbon tax and an update to current energy taxation.
"EU rules are clearly out of step with the considerable evolution of technology and energy markets over the past 15 years," he said.
"The Commission's view that energy taxation has a key role to play in achieving the Union's climate and environmental objectives".
"There are a number of possible solutions to address the main challenges we are facing," he said. "Some countries raised the option of aviation taxation, tackling the imbalances between the tax rates of energy products such as diesel and petrol, or promoting the use of renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency."
He said that the new Commission will take these all into account as it prepares its European Green Deal plan.
"We must make concrete progress on this issue during the next mandate because we must live up to the promises we have made to Europeans on climate and environmental issues," said Dombrovskis.
The new European Commission, which will take office in November, has set itself ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions by at least 50%.
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