France’s quest to become one of the first G7, industrialized countries to tax carbon hit a roadblock last month when the country’s Constitutional Court ruled against the landmark tax for being too easy on polluters.
The court said the law’s numerous loopholes benefiting carbon-dependent industries rendered it ineffective.
On Wednesday, the French government said it planned to submit a revised version of its carbon tax legislation to parliament on July 1st.
The major change in the law would be the extension of the tax to 1,000 highly polluting industrial sites, including power stations, oil refineries and cement works, notes Dow Jones.
What doesn’t change are some of the loopholes benefiting energy and carbon-dependent industries and the tax rate, which stays put at 17 euros ($24.38) per ton of carbon-dioxide emissions. The new bill will include the input of businesses and environmentalists.
The Medef, France’s leading business lobby, has called on the government to postpone implementation of the tax to 2011.
On a parallel track, aware that the carbon tax could hurt the competitiveness of French businesses, the French government is also seeking to level the playing field by lobbying for a European Union-wide carbon tax on imports entering the EU, reports the AFP.
Sweden, Denmark and Finland have implemented carbon taxes of their own. France would be the biggest economy to apply such a measure.
Photo Credit: AFP via France24.com