EU ministers reject reducing taxes to offset oil price rises

EU ministers reject reducing taxes to offset oil price rises

Brussels (Platts)--29Nov2004


A large majority of European Union energy ministers do not want to take
specific fiscal measures to offset oil price rises, the Dutch president of the
EU energy council, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, said Monday. 

"Some EU member states wanted to interfere in the price element by reducing

excise duties or taxes to counteract the effect of oil price rises," said

Brinkhorst. "But a large majority of ministers and the European Commission

thought this would be counter-productive." The ministers discussed oil prices

over dinner Sunday, and Brinkhorst said that all agreed there should be more

investment upstream and downstream, more energy efficiency and more transparency.

"The time is right for a real dialog with OPEC," said Brinkhorst. "But we

shouldn't only aim for a dialog when prices are high." The EU should work to

combine its long term interests with the Middle East, he said.

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