The European Commission will propose derogations to the bloc’s existing energy taxation rules to protect households and businesses from inflation, Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said Monday, according to Politico.
“My services will come [in coming weeks] with further guidance on what kind of derogations to rules that we have on energy taxation could be temporarily allowed,” Gentiloni said, speaking in Bucharest.
He pointed to surging EU inflation, which rose to 6.2 percent in February but reached peaks of above 10 percent in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Estonia, according to Eurostat. “We can expect these figures to grows further,” Gentiloni warned.
EU countries already have invested 0.5 of their GDP on average in measures to reduce inflationary pressures on consumers and businesses, including tax rebates on fuels in Germany and Italy.
Asked about which exceptions could be made to the rules, a Commission spokesperson said “the Commission stands ready to provide guidance to member states on how to make best use of the legal framework including on targeted and temporary derogations under the energy taxation directive so as to avoid distortions to the single market.”