TAXATION: GERMANY TO APPLY DIFFERENT RATES OF FUEL TAX ACCORDING TO SULPHUR CONTENT.

The German authorities informed the Commission that on January 1 2000 they wished to bring in a new law on the continuation of environmental tax reforms, differentiating levels of mineral oil duty on fuels according to their sulphur content. The proposal is for fuel with a sulphur content (petrol and diesel) of over 50 ppm to be increased by 3 pfennigs per litre as from November 1, 2001. The second part of the new law would apply this higher rate of tax from January 1, 2003 onwards to fuels with a sulphur content of over 10 ppm. The Commission did not have any problems with the first part of the new German law, especially since the 50 ppm standard is to apply...