French PM calls for european carbon levy

[Logic 7]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c9ee2f5e-7350-11db-9bac-0000779e2340.html

Countries that refuse to join international efforts to cut greenhouse emissions – such as the US and China – should face a European carbon tax on their imports, Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, proposed on Monday.

The controversial proposal is likely to heighten suspicions that Europeans are using environmental arguments to justify protectionist restrictions on trade. It would require full European Union support to become reality.
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Mr de Villepin’s plan is intended to put pressure on China, Brazil and India at this week’s climate change talks in Nairobi, where countries are meeting to discuss a post-Kyoto framework. Emerging economies, whose carbon emissions are rising rapidly with the growth of manufacturing exports, are under pressure to commit to cuts in greenhouse gases once the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012.

“We have decided to reinforce the principle that the polluter pays,” said Mr de Villepin, who will put concrete proposals to other EU member states by March. He also announced a domestic tax on coal and aircraft noise and said further measures could include road charging in big towns and taxing lorries on cross-Alpine routes.

“It’s not right that Europe should make considerable efforts while other major players do not,” one of Mr de Villepin’s officials told Le Monde. “China is fast catching up Europe in high technology; it must also make an effort on environmental issues.”

France’s proposal to tax imports from recalcitrant countries may be designed to rebutt criticism by the European Commission that the emission quotas Paris has set the country’s industrial sector are too generous. Companies argue that the cost of complying with tougher quotas puts them at a disadvantage to international competitors. A carbon tax on imports would restore the balance.

But developing countries are likely to regard the tax proposal as a barrier to trade.

“The next round of protectionism from Europe is likely to be based on some spurious argument like food miles,” Helen Clark, New Zealand’s prime minister, said last month. The country’s farmers are indignant at suggestions their produce could be subjected to taxes reflecting the distance it is transported to its end market.

The package presented by Mr de Villepin on Monday is the latest effort by French political heavyweights to demonstrate their green credentials, after the publication of the UK’s Stern review on climate change helped bring environmental issues to the fore of the European political agenda.

Laurent Fabius, a contender for the socialist party nomination, offered to make the popular ecologist Nicolas Hulot his second in command if elected.

Ok let's summerize, the coalition of the bamboos in here are on french cases on every occasions to claim that french are cowards.However the french are the only one in the G8 to demonstrate fiercely against their governement behavior, quite far from being a coward, then you have that same dominique devillepin who warns on thousands of occasions the whol bush/fascist administration for the war in iraq, then the whole anglo/sheep/cowards/press went along and declare french are cowards for not supporting the war in iraq.

That same villepin went a long couple months ago, to declare that the war on terror is bogus, then you have again that same de villepin who is ready to punish the us/china/canada for their non-respect of the Kyoto threaty.

If you guys think the frenchs are cowards, then i am really wondering what the coalition of the willing and those who support their endless wars are?? i guess there is still no definition of that word yet.

 

[I think not]

Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me what the phuck does Iraq have to do with a carbon tax?