A Carbon Tax to Regulate CO2 Emissions: the EU ́s Road to an Environmental Taxation System.

Abstract

Among the proposals of the European Commission, expressed in the “Fit for 55”, inaddition to the extension of the ETS-EU to other highly energy-intensive sectors and therewriting of the ETD Directive, one aims at setting a “price” on carbon through a tax to belevied on imports of products incorporating it, embarking on a far-reaching reform of theEU’s public finances with actions to promote ecological transition, and at the same time,limit negative externalities due to the use of fossil fuels. An alternative to this measure could be the introduction of a carbon tax not only at the borders but this, just like the previous one, brings out more application complications. With regard to a global tax on CO2 emissions, this is a proposal which appears at the moment unrealistic.