Taxation Task Force update Newsletter March 2020

23/03/2020

The European Commission is currently reviewing the Energy Taxation Directive that it withdrew back in 2015, as the file was blocked in Council, and will publish a revised Energy Taxation Directive probably in Q2/Q3 2020.

Related to UEIL’s objective to prevent the inclusion of lubes under EMCS, certain EU Member States expressed their concern 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 Member States in the coming weeks to express its concern and will propose a new definition of ‘light lubes’ at the request of the Member States.

Finally, the European Commission has decided from 1 January 2020 to set an annual quota of 400 tonnes for Gp II between 150 and 650. UEIL is actively lobbying against this decision as it will have a negative impact on the competitiveness of SMEs, and business figures show there is still a shortage of Gp II in Europe in 2020. The first chance that the quota can be revised is from 1 July 2020.