EU officials speaking ahead of the European Council meeting in Seville at the weekend revealed that the 15 nation bloc is still deeply divided over energy taxation proposals, making the prospect of acheiving a resolution to the situation any time soon highly unlikely.
Back in 1997, the European Commission introduced proposals to levy minimum EU tax rates on coal, natural gas, and electricity, and to gradually increase those minimum rates in order to encourage greater energy efficiency.
According to reports, the Commission wants the draft measures approved by the end of this year, but wrangling by member states over exemption proposals for various industries has considerably slowed progress.
Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has proposed a compromise whereby only energy products used for fuel and heating would be affected by the common tax. However, this is unlikely to be accepted by countries such as the United Kingdom and Ireland, which want heating oil for private homes exempted from the levy.
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