Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-22-Speech-2-405"
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"en.20070522.31.2-405"2
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"Mr President, here we go again – yet another timid, surreptitious attempt by the Commission to introduce tax harmonisation by the back door.
In this House, we love to talk about ‘harmful tax competition’, so let us get one thing straight right away: there is no such thing as harmful tax competition; all tax competition is good. Any attempt at harmonisation represents a cartel operated by governments against the interests of the people. Like all attempts to harmonise taxes, this proposal will have the effect of raising taxes yet further in our grossly overtaxed economies.
The Commission’s proposal has a further defect: by seeking to apply a common percentage increase across the board, it further exacerbates the existing distortion between beverage types, which unfairly discriminates in favour of wine at the expense of traditional spirits, like cognac and Scotch. Here I must declare an interest: I once worked in the Scotch whisky business; for several years I was Mr Johnny Walker in Korea.
Any reasonable person must surely agree that the gross discrimination in duty terms in favour of wine, and against beer and spirits, which these proposals enshrine, is wholly unacceptable. It cannot be allowed to proceed. Let me therefore commend the work of the rapporteur, the admirable Mrs Lulling. Rarely has a report in this House distilled so much common sense.
The 1992 measure to harmonise alcohol duties has failed in its objectives. The changes proposed by the Commission would also fail. The amount of duty collected is small, sometimes too low to justify the collection costs. Member States should be free to set rates that suit their own people and their culture.
Mrs Lulling’s final recommendation is that the Community legislation in this matter should be abolished. Let me congratulate the rapporteur, Mrs Lulling, on a job well done."@en1
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