Last week, the European Commission published the Country Reports – a detailed Member State by Member State assessment in the context of the European Semester. It concludes that EU countries should exploit the potential of Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR). The bloc’s average of 6.3% of environmental tax take (in terms of total tax revenue) in 2014 was short of an indicative 10% goal set in 2011. GBE welcomes Brussels’ calls on Member States […]
10 January 2017 Hans Vos (hansbvos@gmail.com) The 2017 Fiscal Plan The major overhaul of the Dutch fiscal system as expected to commence since 2013[1], has not made much progress during 2016. The preparations will not start before March 2017 (national elections), although intentions may feature in the election programmes of several political parties. The 2017 Fiscal Plan makes no reference to any form of continuation of a green tax reform. […]
In Denmark, a new political party called Alternativet (the Alternative) [1] has made combatting climate change and rising inequality its main priorities. The party, which claims to be an alternative to the mainstream left-right political paradigm, has plans to initiate a transition to a more sustainable and equitable economy – and green taxation is central to their agenda. The group aims to step up efforts to implement Environmental Fiscal Reform […]
This study commissioned by Helga Trüpel, Ernest Maragall, Monika Vana and Indrek Tarand, members of the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament, examines sustainability-oriented means of financing the EU budget and provides a set of arguments in favour of specific green own resource candidates. The Paris Agreement and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) necessitate a paradigm shift in various social and economic areas. The EU budget with its […]
This briefing highlights the shortcomings of the 2015 Circular Economy package, and looks at how the environmental and socially equitable reform of fiscal systems across the EU can support the transition to a circular economy. On 2 December 2015, the European Commission presented a revised Circular Economy package (COM/2015/614) with the stated aim of supporting the transition to a stronger and more circular economy where resources are used in a […]