French government backs down on carbon tax plan

[pampango]

Source: BBC

The French government has signalled that it is dropping a plan for a tax on domestic carbon dioxide emissions. Jean-Francois Cope, parliamentary leader of the governing UMP party, was quoted as saying the tax "would be Europe-wide or not (exist) at all".

Had the plan been approved, France would have been the largest country to impose a carbon tax as part of efforts to tackle climate change. "In that spirit, I would like to indicate that the decisions we are going to take regarding sustainable development have to be better coordinated with all European countries, so as not to widen our gap in competitiveness with our neighbour Germany."

Environmental agencies expressed dismay on Tuesday, while the head of the French business federation Medef expressed relief.

The European Commission said earlier this month that it was planning an EU-wide minimum tax on carbon as part of the EU's green energy agenda - though the UK opposes such a move.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8583898.stm