Dec. 23, 2021 (EIRNS)—The EU Commission has proposed a new set of taxes to finance the grants extended by the Next Generation EU Fund to member countries. The new taxes will mostly be “Green Taxes” or “Climate Taxes,” plus a share of the new international corporate tax.
The first tax is based on “revenues from emissions trading (ETS); the second draws on the resources generated by the proposed EU carbon border adjustment mechanism; the third is based on the share of residual profits from multinationals that will be re-allocated to EU Member States under the recent OECD/G20 agreement on a re-allocation of taxing rights (”Pillar One“). At cruising speed, in the years 2026-2030, these new sources of revenue are expected to generate, on average, a total of up to €17 billion annually for the EU budget,” says an EU release dated Dec. 22. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_7025
The new resources should also finance the Social Climate Fund, the handouts established by the EU to alleviate the “energy poverty” the EU itself has created with its climate folly. This is especially pertinent in view of the proposed extension of the Emissions Trading System covering buildings and road transport.
Johannes Hahn, Commissioner in charge of Budget and Administration, said yesterday: “With today’s package, we lay the foundations for the repayment of NextGenerationEU and provide essential support to the Fit for 55 package by putting in place the financing of the Social Climate Fund. With the set of new resources, we, therefore, ensure that the next generation will truly benefit from NextGenerationEU.”
In the future, emissions trading will also apply to the maritime sector, auctioning of aviation allowances will increase, and a new system for buildings and road transport will be established.
Under the current EU Emissions Trading System, most revenues from the auctioning of emission allowances are transferred to national budgets. Now, the Commission proposes that in the future, 25% of the revenue from EU emissions trading flows into the EU budget. “At cruising speed, revenues for the EU budget are estimated at around €12 billion per year on average over 2026-2030 (€9 billion on average between 2023-2030).”
(Both Poland and the Czech Republic have called for abolishing the ETS, which has become a sheer financial derivatives market and is seen as the main cause for energy price increases. Instead, the Potsdam Institute for Climate research, a key center for radiation of climate insanity, has insisted that derivatives are all well and good.)
Through the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports with CO₂-footprint, there will be “a carbon price on imports, corresponding to what would have been paid, had the goods been produced in the EU. This mechanism will apply to a targeted selection of sectors and is fully consistent with WTO rules,” the release says. The Commission wants 75% of the revenues generated by this carbon border adjustment mechanism, estimated at around 1 billion euro on average over 2026-2030.
Of the revenues from the International Corporate Tax, which now are reallocated to member states, the Commission wants to have 15%. “Pending the finalization of the agreement, revenues for the EU budget could amount to roughly between €2.5 and €4 billion per year.”
That is not the end of it: the Commission will present a proposal for a second basket of new own resources by the end of 2023.
The new taxes would bring between 15.5 and 17 billion Euro per year in the vaults of the EU Commission. The proposal shall now go to the European Parliament for scrutiny and eventually to the EU Council of heads of state and government for final approval. [ccc]