July 1 plan for new carbon tax

THE GOVERNMENT has set a new deadline of July 1 to bring in a tax on petrol, heating fuel and polluting businesses - six months after originally planned.

The taxe carbone should have begun on January 1 but was scrapped by the constitutional court just days before.

The judges threw it out because it included too many exemptions and was too lenient on some of France's most polluting industries.
Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that a newly redrafted version of the tax will be presented to parliament on January 20. It is not expected to be voted until after the regional elections in March.

According to Les Echos, none of the changes to the tax will affect households. They will see four or five centimes added to the price of a litre of fuel and a similar rise in gas prices, as the original taxe carbone proposed. The amendments will affect certain businesses, including farmers and lorry drivers.