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Minimum EU fuel tax is barely half a deal says BHA
Page 10
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• The Road Haulage Association's chief executive has described the expected agreement on an EU-wide minimum tax rate on fuel as "not even half a dear.
As CM went to press (Tuesday), EU member states were poised to break a five-year deadlock and agree to the rate at a meeting of finance ministers.
It is seen as a breakthrough for the EU, which is seeking to conclude an issue first considered in 1997.
But the RHA's Roger King says the horrendous difference in fuel taxation, with the UK suffering from "self-inflicted economic punishment", will be unaffected by setting a minimum rate.
"A minimum rate is one thing, a maximum rate is quite another," he says.
"The cost of transport plays heavily, especially with investment in manufacturing. Small wonder such investment is migrating to eastern Europe," he adds.
King is calling on the government to take urgent action now. He accepts that the principle of a minimum rate will lead to a maximum rate, "[but] the difficulty is getting member states, particularly Britain, to agree to that principle."