Ceepackaging

Environment

EU publishes consultation document on environment

The Commission’s intention is to launch
a debate on the feasibility of an increased use of
market-based instruments to achieve environmental
and other policy objectives, both at Community
and national levels.

Published alongside the Green Paper is a Commission
Staff Working Document, which looks at the
distributional aspects of market-based instruments
(impacts on the poor, effects on the competitiveness
of companies or sectors) and considers EU trends.
The Commission moots the idea of a ‘Market Based
Incentives Forum’ as a more structured way of
exchanging information between Member States.
It says that whilst the Commission “considers that it is
for Member States to find the right balance between
incentives and disincentives in their tax systems…
the Commission would like, however, Community tax
policy to facilitate this balance.”
The Commission also questions whether it should
consider proposing a ‘harmonised landfill tax with
EU-wide minimum rates’ and asks whether the existing
Community legal framework provides sufficient scope
for Member States to use market-based instruments
to address waste management issues.
The Commission poses a series of questions in its
Green Paper and invites comment by 31 July.
EUROPEN intends to publish a booklet on economic
instruments, revising its paper issued in 2000 on this
topic in light of developments over the past few years.
Many countries now apply or are proposing to apply
taxes or other economic instruments to packaging and
packaging materials, and EUROPEN’s concern is
to ensure that these devices are only used where they
do not undermine the internal market and where they
can be shown to be the most effective way to achieve
an environmental objective. EUROPEN’s Economic
Instruments Work Group is presently assessing the
Commission’s Green Paper to decide whether to submit
comments. If so, these will first be submitted to the
12 June Council of Members for approval.