By Brian Johnson - 3rd September 2006
MEPs will shift this week’s Strasbourg plenary session into gear with a call to replace national registration taxes on cars with new levies based on vehicle pollution.
Brussels wants to cut back on the numerous, often arbitrary, car charges such as registration taxes, fuel taxes, VAT, insurance taxes and road tax disc charges currently imposed across the EU.
MEPs will on Monday evening debate the report by Danish deputy Karin Riis-Jorgensen, with the parliament set to back European commission plans to scrap registration charges currently levied in 16 member states in favour of an EU road tax scheme taking account of vehicle CO2 emissions.
The new proposals will see the abolition of national registration taxes over a transitional 5-10 year period, the establishment of an EU-wide system to refund registration tax when a person moves from one country to another and a restructuring of both registration and annual circulation taxes to take account of CO2 emissions.
Jorgensen believes that registration taxes are hindering free movement across Europe, as motorists often end up paying twice when they transfer their cars from one member state to another.
MEPs are expected to broadly support the commission’s plans and are set to extend the scope of the proposals to include other air pollutants such as nitrous oxide (NOx).
But Green MEPs, while favouring CO2 based taxation levies, are opposed to abolishing registration taxes which they believe should be maintained as a deterrent for “influencing consumer behaviour”.
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