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Taxation and Customs Union

Public consultation on the structures of excise duties applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages

Title

Consultation on the structures of excise duties applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages

Policy field

Taxation

Target groups

The European Commission seeks the views of all interested parties on a set of possible options for revision of Directive 92/83/EEC.

Period of consultation: From 18/04/2017 to 11/07/2017

Objective of the consultation

This consultation is intended to gather the views of EU citizens and stakeholders on a set of possible options for the revision of Directive 92/83/EEC.

Council Directive 1992/83/EEC sets out EU rules on the structures of excise duty applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages. In particular:

  • it defines and classifies various types of alcoholic products. The purpose of the Directive is to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.
  • Defines the alcohol products that are subject to excise duty
  • Details the methods by which duty must be charged (i.e. how the duty is calculated)
  • Provides exemptions from duty
  • Gives Member States the discretion to provide reduced rates in certain circumstances (small producers, low alcohol ABV)

The Directive has not changed in substance since it was written in 1992. A report (28 October 2016) was prepared in the context of the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) and was supported by an external study.

According to the Commission report, there might be scope to improve Directive 1992/83/EEC in order to reduce administrative burden for both Member States and economic operators and reduce distortions in the internal market. The ECOFIN Council discussed the Commission report and adopted a set of conclusions on 6 December 2016 requesting the Commission to carry out the necessary studies to prepare a possible legislative proposal for revision of the Directive. On 1st March 2017 the European Commission published an Inception Impact Assessment providing the background and a first description of the problems and possible policy options under analysis.

How to submit your contribution

In the interests of transparency, organisations have been invited to provide the public with relevant information about themselves by registering in the Transparency Register and subscribing to its Code of Conduct.

The Commission will deal with contributions and personal data according to the Specific Privacy Statement attached to this consultation.

The contributions reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

START THE SURVEY

View the contributions

The submissions and a simplified statistics report of the results of the public consultation are available here.

Next steps

The Commission will analyse the content of the contributions received and produce a synopsis report of the entire consultation result.

Contact details:

Responsible service

DG TAXUD – Directorate C – Indirect Taxation

Unit C2 Indirect Taxes other than VAT

Email

TAXUD-UNIT-C2atec [dot] europa [dot] eu (TAXUD-UNIT-C2[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Postal address

European Commission
Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union
Rue de Spa 3, Office 5/84

B-1049 Brussels

Protection of personal data

Specific Privacy Statement