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EU rules state the VAT on fuel cannot be less than 15%
Member states are free to set VAT rates at or above that minimum
Changing VAT minimum requires proposal from
European Commission and unanimous agreement of
all member states

Also minimum EU-wide excise duty of 330 euros
(£260) per 1,000 litres (220 gallons) of diesel

"Fuel is too expensive. France put a mechanism in
place two years ago which provided the fishermen
with a compensation package, and Europe said no,"
he said.

"That's why we came here, to tell Europe to stop
getting in the way of the French government
trying to help us."

However, the EU officials stressed that any fuel
subsidies would be illegal under European law and
unsustainable in the long term.

EU rules state that the value-added tax (VAT)
rate on fuel cannot be less than 15%. Member
states are free to set VAT rates at or above that
minimum.

"There is a problem of high costs at the time
when the sector is also in a situation where
there is overcapacity and where there is a need
for restructuring," said Patrick Tabone, the
chief political adviser of the EU fisheries
commissioner.

"What we need to ensure is that the responses we
come up with are a real help to the sector, not
only in the short term, but in the long term."

The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says that
this is not a message the angry fishermen will
want to hear.

Removing excise taxes will definitely make the price for fuel go down, but at the same time it will make the oil extractors become richer.

Not at all, they will simply deduct from the price the VAT amount, and they must not benefit of additional income. The government must take care of that

Jfish Wrote:However, the EU officials stressed that any fuel
subsidies would be illegal under European law and
unsustainable in the long term.

I don't think this is the time when the law is should be upon EU citizens' facilities. Subsidies are necessary, and in this case they should change the law.

330 euros for 1000 liters is too much. I mean if 1 liter costs 1 euro then 330 euros is 33% from 1000

Unfortunately the EU can do very little about fuel taxes. All the fuel in the world belongs to either Russia or USA (of course I'm not mentioning the arabic countries)

USA saves its oil resources for itself. When the world reserves will run out, the USA will be the only country with oil

If we are not so stupid, we'll not allow that.

By allowing the Iraqi war, we already did that. In result - yes, we are stupid.

If Obama wins the elections, he promised to evacuate the USA troops from Iraq. We are left only with the solution to pray that American people will make the right choice and that the elections will be democratic. BTW when are those elections going to be held?

Karl.in.eu Wrote:If Obama wins the elections, he promised to evacuate the USA troops from Iraq. We are left only with the solution to pray that American people will make the right choice and that the elections will be democratic. BTW when are those elections going to be held?

you're telling fairy-tales. The outcome of the elections won't determine considerably the prices for oil.

The USA presidential elections are scheduled on the 4th November (2008)

hmm, there is not much left. We will witness the most powerful political debates during these two months.