Taxation Task Force update Newsletter June 2020

19/06/2020

The European Commission is currently reviewing the Energy Taxation Directive that was withdrawn by the European Commission in 2015 (as the file was blocked in Council) and will publish a revised Energy Taxation Directive, probably in Q3 2020.

Related to UEIL’s objective to prevent the inclusion of lubes under EMCS, certain EU Member States are concerned about increased fraud with lubes in Europe and are once again increasing the pressure to include lubes under EMCS. UEIL will continue its outreach to EU Member States in the coming weeks to express its concern and will propose a new definition of ‘light lubes’ as requested by Member States in Q3 2020.

Finally, the European Commission has decided from the 1st of January 2020 to set a quota of 400 tonnes annually for Gp II. UEIL is actively lobbying against this decision as it will have a negative impact on the competitiveness of SMEs. Under the current quota there is still only 80.000 tonnes left until the end of June. The first opportunity to revise the quota is from the 1st of July 2020.