EU Commission Takes Portugal to Court for Failing to Adopt Changes to Excise Taxes
The European Commission on June 17 referred Portugal to the Court of Justice for failing to "fully transpose into national law" the EU directive "laying down the general arrangements for" excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages. All EU member…
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states were required to fully transpose the EU directive regarding the excise duties, yet Portugal has yet to do so, the commission said. The regulation "sets up an EU-wide certification system for small alcohol producers to facilitate their access to lower excise duty rates across the Union" and combats fraud by "clarifying the conditions for the application of the exemptions for alcohol not intended for human consumption." The commission said this "transposition gap" affects the "cross-border trade of alcohol" made by small producers of wine to other member states and of the alcohol not meant for human consumption.