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DRAFT REPORT (COM(2021)0563 – C90362/2021 – 2021/0213(CNS))

On the proposal for a Council directive restructuring the Union framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity (recast)

ECON-PR-719624

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs · Rapporteur: Johan Van Overtveldt

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

This is the rapporteur's draft report on the proposed Council directive recasting the EU framework for taxing energy products and electricity. It approves the Commission proposal only as amended, and calls on the Commission and Council to change it accordingly. The draft backs a shift from volume to energy content as the tax base and a wider taxable base, but rejects the Commission's ranking of rates by environmental performance in favour of technology neutrality, to avoid high social costs, double taxation with the Emissions Trading System and enforcement problems. It deletes the annual automatic indexation of minimum rates, extends the review cycle from five to ten years, and makes entry into force conditional on a comprehensive overall impact assessment of the whole 'Fit for 55' package. It amends the rules for aviation and waterborne navigation, keeps a permanent zero minimum rate for sustainable alternative fuels and electricity, and exempts shore side electricity and electricity supplied to berthed vessels and stationary aircraft. It leaves Member States free to define vulnerable households and to decide social measures, and invites the Council to set the minimum rates in the Annexes.

Committee position. The rapporteur approves the Commission proposal only as amended. He backs the shift to energy content as the tax base and a wider taxable base, but rejects the environmental ranking of rates in favour of technology neutrality, deletes automatic indexation, and makes entry into force conditional on a comprehensive overall impact assessment of the 'Fit for 55' package.

Key points

  1. Parliament approves the Commission proposal as adapted to the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party and as amended, and calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly.
  2. The draft adds recitals noting the Commission's failure to produce a comprehensive overall impact assessment of the entire 'Fit for 55' package and the shortcomings of the impact assessment accompanying the proposal.
  3. It asks the Commission to propose offsetting the new compliance costs on affected sectors by revising or repealing provisions in other Union legal acts before the directive enters into force.
  4. It states that Member States' authorities are best placed to decide social measures and compensation, and that the directive should keep flexibility for Member States with different starting points.
  5. It deletes the recital requiring Member States to replicate the ranking of minimum levels of taxation and the annual alignment to the harmonised index of consumer prices.
  6. It deletes the recital stating that electricity should always be among the least taxed energy sources and that Member States should apply the same level of taxation to electricity for charging electric vehicles as for heating.
  7. It states that air and waterborne navigation need a global level playing field, that global market-based measures remain the most effective option, and that revising the privileged tax regimes of kerosene and heavy fuels should rest on an in-depth impact assessment.
  8. It provides that sustainable alternative fuels and electricity get a permanent zero minimum rate, and that the transitional period for reaching minimum rates runs for ten years after entry into force.
  9. It invites the Council to determine the rates in Tables A, B and C of Annex I, and to revise those tables to align them with technology neutrality.
  10. It taxes only the share of maritime fuels bunkered and used on voyages within the scope of Article 15, and deletes the automatic indexation of minimum levels of taxation.
  11. It exempts electricity supplied to stationary aircraft and to vessels berthed in ports, and exempts on-board electricity unless generated by fossil marine fuels.
  12. It extends the Commission's reporting cycle from five to ten years, and makes entry into force conditional on the Council declaring itself satisfied with a comprehensive overall impact assessment of the 'Fit for 55' package.

Who is affected

  • Member States, which keep competence over taxation and social measures and decide which households are vulnerable.
  • The aviation sector, including intra-EU flights, which would face minimum taxation of fuel and electricity.
  • The waterborne navigation sector, including fishing and freight transport, which would face taxation of fuel and electricity.
  • Households and consumers, for whom the draft seeks to protect purchasing power and avoid energy poverty.
  • The Commission, which is asked to alter its proposal and to prepare a comprehensive overall impact assessment.

Figures and deadlines

  • A transitional period of ten years for reaching minimum levels of taxation for motor fuels used for intra-EU flights.
  • A permanent zero minimum rate for sustainable alternative fuels and electricity.
  • The increase in minimum levels of taxation during a transitional period is fixed at one tenth per year.
  • A maximum period of ten years after entry into force for exempting energy products and electricity used by households recognised as vulnerable.
  • The Commission should report every ten years and for the first time ten years after entry into force.
  • If the Commission does not act within three months of receiving all relevant information, the proposed measure is considered not authorised.
  • The directive enters into force six months after the date on which the Council has declared itself satisfied with the impact assessment.

Legal basis: Article 113 and Article 192(2), first subparagraph, point (a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.