European Parliament Press Release - Excise duty on alcohol: Parliament votes against any increase in minimum rates Economic and monetary affairs - 11-07-2007 - 11:07 MEPs voted against a Commission proposal to raise the EU-wide minimum rates of excise duty on alcoholic drinks other than wine. They opposed amendments calling for the minimum rates to rise by 4.5 per cent, then voted against the whole Commission proposal. The first block of amendments supporting an increase in minimum rates were rejected with 307 votes in favour to 350 against with 23 abstentions. The only logical option for both sides (those favouring an increase in the minimum rates and those who wanted to scrap them altogether) was then to reject the proposal as a whole. This was confirmed in a vote on a legislative resolution, with 46 MEPs voting in favour, 627 against and 13 abstentions. As is usual when it comes to taxation matters, Parliament's position is advisory. The final decision is now for the Council, which needs to act unanimously. This was the second time the plenary had voted on this issue: at the previous vote in May, Parliament sent the matter back to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee after a series of close votes left an unclear result. The Committee subsequently proposed to back an increase by 4.5 per cent, reflecting inflation since the 2004 enlargement. This position is now backed by the European Commission with the aim of getting the required unanimous agreement within the Council. The full Parliament, however, did not support the Committee's position. Read Full Press Release ____________________________________________________________________________