Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-04-Speech-1-079"
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"en.20060904.18.1-079"2
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".
Madam President, first of all I would like to congratulate the rapporteur in her absence, and to say that I endorse her position. Perhaps it is not surprising that the European Union Member States have very different tax systems in place for passenger cars, but I am astonished at the argument by governments as to why this system should not be changed and gradually be harmonised at the European Union level. The arguments are of all varieties, covering taxation, administration and subsidiarity, but in essence they boil down to the argument that I found in the draft of my own country’s position. There, we read ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’ I have always been an advocate of the subsidiarity principle in the field of direct taxes. Can a small and medium-sized European Union Member State, however, really carry out its own tax policy with respect to passenger cars with a specific goal of environmental protection or energy efficiency? By way of example, a few years ago in Latvia there was an attempt to sharply increase registration and annual taxes for very powerful motor cars. What happened then is what is also happening in other European countries – Latvians registered their cars in neighbouring Lithuania. I am therefore convinced that the reduction of CO2 emissions or other environmental goals in this field must be tackled at the European Union level, not at the level of individual Member States.
Finally, I would like to say that, in view of the widely differing views of the governments of EU Member States on these issues, I think that Parliament ought to take a very even-handed step, and make the wording of this draft directive likely to be accepted unanimously by the Council, to avoid its being rejected for its very nature."@en1
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