Carbon tax idea is back

For several years, the EU has been raising the subject of a carbon tax at the EU borders, i.e. a tax imposed on fuels, proportionally to the greenhouse gas emissions arising from their burning. Its aim is to include in the price of fuels the hidden social cost of external effects such as air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases leading to climate change. The upcoming elections to the European Parliament have become a great opportunity for green political parties to resurrect the topic.

This time, French politicians benefit from the pro-ecological activity of think-tank La Fabrique Ecologique, which published eight proposals on environmental policy in the European Union. One of them was the implementation of a carbon tax, also argued by economic factors. " Europe could implement mechanisms to prevent competitors from countries which do not comply with the Paris Agreement from having a competitive advantage over their European competitors," said Guibert, chairman of La Fabrique Ecologique. Such a practice would reduce the competitiveness of prices of fuels imported from Russia or China, while at the same time strengthening the EU mining market, on the other hand, it puts stronger emphasis on the development of renewable energy sources not only in European Union.

Due to the controversy over the carbon tax, the issue of its implementation should not be considered only as environmental issue but also as economic one from the point of view of the citizen, on whose tax implementation will have a direct impact.