Grâce à des fiches que j'ai achetées à la documentation française je suis informée tous les quinze jours des sujets qui sont considérés d'actualité pour la
préparation aux concours.
Un des sujets qui semble très "chaud" est l'énergie: quels sont les différents types d'énergie et quelles énergies doivent être privilégiées? Faut-il mettre l'accent sur les énergies
fossiles, le nucléaire ou les énergies renouvelables? Quel est le lien avec la préservation de l'environnement et avec la croissance?
Quelles sont les mesures qui doivent être prises pour encourager l'utilisation de telle ou telle énergie?
L'article ci-dessous du Financial Times traite du souhait de la France et de la Grande Bretagne que l'Union Européenne
mette en place des impôts indirects "verts" pour encourager un comportement des consommateurs plus responsable vis à vis l'environnement.
Voici donc un article "trois en un" pour l'Anglais, la culture générale et l'Union Européenne!
France and UK warm to green taxes
By John Thornhill in Paris and Andrew Bounds in Brussels
Published: August 2 2007 03:25 | Last updated: August 2 2007 03:25
France and Britain will next month press their European partners to boost environmental awareness among consumers through tax incentives.
Following a promise last month by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, and Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, to use tax policy in the battle against global warming, the two governments are developing details of the controversial plan. The initiative has been welcomed by environmental groups but could face resistance from industry and other member states, including Germany.
Officials suggest that VAT rates could be linked to existing European Union environmental labelling schemes rating the energy efficiency of white goods, such as refrigerators and freezers. Other products could include insulation materials, double-glazing and renewable energy. But it may be difficult to cover cars in the initial proposal –- as originally suggested by Mr Sarkozy – because of that industry’s complexity.
One British official said: “We are trying to use indirect taxation as a way of encouraging environmentally responsible behaviour.”
Environmental groups have welcomed the Franco-British move that will be presented to European Commission officials and EU finance ministers next month. Dave Timms, economics campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s a good idea to use the tax system to reduce the costs for consumers to make the right environmental choice.”
However, the proposal is likely to run into difficulties.
László Kovács, EU tax commissioner, says he will study any plans carefully but must consider them in a broader context. The Hungarian commissioner is already tackling how to handle the end of a series of exemptions and reduced rates, often negotiated by countries when they entered the EU, in 2010.
Privately, his staff doubt all 27 member states would agree to such a change.
White goods manufacturers are also doubtful. Older generation appliances that still attracted higher-rate VAT would have to be sold off at deep discounts, they say. They also worry about whether imports would comply with legislation.
Ceced, the industry’s representative body, in March said it would pull out of a voluntary agreement to keep tightening standards because governments had not enforced them properly.
“Too many governments are not stopping careless or unscrupulous operators from marketing products that claim better energy efficiency than they actually deliver,” said Magnus Yngen, of Electrolux, the Swedish manufacturer, who is Ceced president. Ceced is testing products to see if they meet their claims. It is moving towards recommending consumer tax credits, which are more flexible and already used in Belgium.
Germany has yet to respond to the Anglo-French initiative; a fact some officials excuse on the grounds of holidays, others as foreshadowing a German veto.
Berlin has long opposed VAT exemptions, arguing it is better to have a unitary rate that can be kept relatively low, rather than a litany of exceptions that drive up the standard rate. Berlin repeatedly shot down proposals by Jacques Chirac, former French president, to lower VAT on restaurants.
Additional reporting by Scheherazade Daneshkhu in London and Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankfurt
J'ai ajouté un rappel de la liste des commissaires Européens à la fin de l'article pour resituer pourquoi László Kovác est le commissaire qui
intervient sur cette question. On aurait pu penser qu'elle concernerait aussi Stávros Dímas commissaire pour l'environnement ou Andris Piebalgs commissaire pour l'Energie.
Alors un petit point sur les priorités de László Kovác telles qu'il les énonce lui-même et on notera la suivante: The promotion of environmentally-beneficial
behaviour.
Mais il est intéressant d'aller faire un tour sur le site de ces trois commissions pour comprendre le rôle de chacun car tous se préoccupent des questions liées au changement climatique par
exemple.
In the tax area my priority is to continue a global approach to tax policy, linking taxation to wider Community objectives such as the Lisbon agenda of economic success in a globalised market. I believe that continuing to work on the elimination of cross-border tax obstacles will contribute considerably to meeting the Lisbon challenge by facilitating a more neutral and more efficient allocation of resources.
In this context the following initiatives are key building blocks to success:
-
The creation of a common consolidated corporate tax base in the EU
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The control of the application of specific Community tax provisions and of the Treaty freedoms
As far as the customs union is concerned I will focus on the following priorities:
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Reinforcing security for all: pre-arrival and pre-departure information; common risk-management system across the Community
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Protecting consumers and facilitating business: protection of Community citizens and business, notably in the area of counterfeiting.
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Reviewing the future of rules of origin in preferential trade arrangements
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Combating fraud
Liste des commissaires européens
Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre.
- José Manuel Barroso (Portugal) : Président ;
- Margot Wallström (Suède) : Vice-présidente/Relations institutionnelles et stratégie de la communication ;
- Günter Verheugen (Allemagne) : Vice-président/Entreprise et industrie ;
- Jacques Barrot (France) : Vice-Président/Transports ;
- Siim Kallas (Estonie) : Vice-président/Administration, audit et lutte anti-fraude ;
- Franco Frattini (Italie): Vice-président/Justice, liberté et sécurité ;
- Viviane Reding (Luxembourg) : Société de l'information et médias ;
- Stávros Dímas (Grèce) : Environnement ;
- Joaquín Almunia (Espagne) : Affaires économiques et monétaires ;
- Danuta Hübner (Pologne): Politique régionale ;
- Joe Borg (Malte) : Pêche et affaires maritimes ;
- Dalia Grybauskaitė (Lituanie) : Programmation financière et budget ;
- Janez Potocnik (Slovénie) : Science et recherche ;
- Jan Figel (Slovaquie) : Education, formation, culture et jeunesse ;
- Markos Kyprianou (Chypre) : Santé ;
- Olli Rehn (Finlande) : Elargissement ;
- Louis Michel (Belgique) : Développement et aide humanitaire ;
- László Kovács (Hongrie) : Fiscalité et union douanière ;
- Neelie Kroes (Pays-Bas) : Concurrence ;
- Mariann Fischer Boel (Danemark) : Agriculture et développement rural ;
- Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Autriche) : Relations extérieures et politique européenne de voisinage ;
- Charlie McCreevy (Irlande) : Marché intérieur et services ;
- Vladimír Špidla (République tchèque) : Emploi, affaires sociales et égalité des chances ;
- Peter Mandelson (Royaume-Uni) : Commerce ;
- Andris Piebalgs (Lettonie) : Énergie ;
- Meglena Kuneva (Bulgarie) : Protection des consommateurs ;
- Leonard Orban (Roumanie) : Multilinguisme.
