EC spells out the end of hauliers' fuel rebates
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• by Keith Nuthall The EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission have called time on fuel rebates for hauliers working in Italy, the Netherlands and France, As expected, ministers have agreed to extend the refund system until next year, albeit at a reduced rate in 2002, with rebates applying to a maximum of 40,000 litres per vehicle per year.
But the EC has told the Council that it does not intend to recommend a further extension of the system, and as it has the role of proposing European legislation, rebates are unlikely to survive beyond 2002.
According to an EC spokesman: The Commission considers that tax breaks in favour of the road haulage sector, and especially their prolongation, are not fully coherent with the objectives of European Union policies on the environ ment, transport and energy. Therefore, the Commission does not intend to propose further prolongations relating to the derogations in favour of road haulage,' However, ministers did agree on a series of other excise duty derogations, some of which will be useful to hauliers, These include a fiveyear reduction in diesel duty in Finland and cuts in the duty on unleaded petrol in Portugal.