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Alcohol duty
Plenary Speech - Tuesday, 22nd May 2007 Mr. President Here we go again. Yet another timid, surreptitious attempt to introduce tax harmonisation by the back door. In this House we love to talk about "Harmful Tax Competition", so let's 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 over-taxed economies. And the Commission's proposals have a further defect. By seeking to apply a common percentage increase across the board, they further exacerbate the existing distortion between beverage types, which unfairly discriminates in favour of wine at the expense of traditional spirits like Cognac and Scotch. I must declare an interest. I once worked in the Scotch Whisky business. For several years I was Mr. Johnny Walker in Korea. But 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 then 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 culture. Mrs. Lulling's final recommendation is that Community legislation in this matter should be abolished. Well done Astrid. Congratulations to the rapporteur! |