DIFFERENTIATED RATE OF EXCISE DUTY FOR NEW FUEL IN FRANCE.

The European Commission recommended on December 9 that the EU Council of Ministers should authorise the French Republic to apply or continue to apply reductions in or exemptions from excise duties on certain mineral oils used for specific purposes, in accordance with the procedures provided for in Directive 92/81/EEC. Under the Directive on the harmonisation of the structure of excise duties on mineral oils, the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, can authorise any Member States to introduce exemptions from or reductions in excise duties on grounds of specific policy considerations. In the present case, the French authorities have informed the Commission that they wish from January 1, 1999 to apply a differentiated rate of excise duty on a...