“We are fighting for, I think we will get there” to set up a carbon tax at the borders of the European Union, said the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, Tuesday on franceinfo. On the eve of a speech by Emmanuel Macron before the European Parliament on the French presidency of the European Union, he recalled that this measure “is a political fight of this presidency”.
“We still have to build an agreement, bring together a majority of member states”, he said, while admitting that“there are countries, particularly in eastern Europe, which [y] are reluctant. Lhe Germans said to themselves ‘if we penalize people who export from China, from the United States to Europe, they will perhaps take trade retaliation measures against us'”, he added, and “Today, we have an agreement in principle from Germany”.
“I was in Berlin last week, I believe that we will find a Franco-German compromise on this tax.”
“This carbon tax at the borders of Europe has nothing to do with the carbon tax that we have seen on fuel, etc., I want to reassure everyone, continued Clément Beaune. It’s very important, because there can be this worry.”, alluding to the Yellow Vests.
️ Carbon tax ➡️ It is a mechanism that allows to have the same environmental criteria” between those who produce in Europe and those who import cars from elsewhere explains Clément Beaune
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This tax, “it’s a mechanism that makes it possible to charge the same carbon prices, the same environmental constraints to those who produce in Europe, such as our car manufacturers or our steelmakers, and those who export to Europe, he explained. We remain an open market, but we must have a tax for those who are not at the same level as us.
For the Secretary of State for European Affairs, “the principle” of this tax, “it is that the manufactured in Europe, the manufactured in France, is not penalized by its legitimate effort of environmental transition”.