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Environmental taxation in the European Union: Are there common trends?

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  • Delgado, Francisco J.
  • Freire-González, Jaume
  • Presno, Maria J.

Abstract

Environmental taxation has been a permanent feature of the policy agenda over the past few decades. It has represented about 2.5 percent of GDP and 6 percent of total taxation in the EU in recent years. In this paper, we study the evolution of total environmental taxation and its two main subcategories, energy and transport taxes, as a percentage of GDP and as a share of total taxation in the EU, through a club convergence analysis of the period 1995–2016. From the GDP perspective, the results show three groups of countries or clubs for the total environmental taxation and only two clubs for the two other categories analysed. Considering the taxation structure perspective, two clusters emerge for the total environmental taxes, three for the energy case and only one for the transport taxation, denoting overall convergence in this case. These results indicate a high grade of convergence in environmental taxation in the EU.

Suggested Citation

  • Delgado, Francisco J. & Freire-González, Jaume & Presno, Maria J., 2022. "Environmental taxation in the European Union: Are there common trends?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 670-682.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:73:y:2022:i:c:p:670-682
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2021.12.019
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    2. Yasushi Kawabata & Yasuhiro Takarada, 2023. "Greening Trade Agreements Through Harmonization of Environmental Regulations," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 57-81, October.
    3. Teresa Famulska & Jan Kaczmarzyk & Małgorzata Grząba-Włoszek, 2022. "Environmental Taxes in the Member States of the European Union—Trends in Energy Taxes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Ihor Nazarkevych & Olga Sych, 2023. "Taxation as a tool of implementation of the EU Green Deal in Ukraine," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 144-160, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental taxation; European Union; Convergence; Clubs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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