Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-22-Speech-2-411"
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"en.20070522.31.2-411"2
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"I congratulate Mrs Lulling for writing the report, and I hope that tomorrow Parliament will also give her maximum support. We need a shift in philosophy as regards excise duties, for determining the minimum rates in euro does nothing to improve the status of convergence – we can see this. In other words, it simply does not achieve the objective.
Essentially, in a system that is open from the top, measured in euro, there will certainly not be significant convergence. In addition, we may even cause serious harm in this way, since in many Member States, generally the poorer ones, imposing price controls of which even Marx would be proud would mean placing new mandatory inflationary burdens on those Member States in which public finances are in order, thereby further limiting freedom in tax policy. Yet many of them have just raised, or are raising excise duties by force, and what is more, these penalised countries would even surpass the maximum level of revenues – as the economic analyses indicate.
This could be used to give new ammunition for the argument against introducing the euro in these countries – for instance in the Baltic and the Balkan states – with specious reasoning on the grounds of inflation, in order to keep them out of the euro zone. But how could we think that in Bulgaria or Romania, with their salaries of 100-150 euro, this will not generate a black economy, crime and illegal brewing? This is public health! Or will they spend half their monthly salary on excise duties?
Not to mention that the ingenious idea has been raised to subject wine, as a replacement product for beer, to the minimum rate as well, thus burdening even further this ancient European culture. If we want true convergence, and in this we agree as regards strategy, then we need to introduce a code of conduct – this is what I recommended, and the Commission has accepted it – in which Member States who are above or below the average excise rate will agree to make changes in the excise duty only in order to converge towards the average, should economic conditions permit it.
There is no question of restoring the borders, nor of abolishing the excise tax, this may be the only solution with regard to the excise tax policy. It is enlarged, and Member States of extremely diverse stages of development [
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"the speech is broken off here]"1
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