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On
April 1, 1999 the German Government introduced an Ecological Tax
Reform (ETR) that increased the price of energy. Higher taxes on
energy consumption provide economic incentives to save energy and
use it more efficiently, thus leading to more innovation in new
technologies.
The tax revenue is returned to the tax payers by using the money
to lower retirement benefit deductions. By lowering non-wage labour
costs, the labour factor becomes cheaper, and existing jobs can
be saved even while new jobs are created (especially in the renewable
energy sector).
Since
its introduction, the reform has been strongly discussed. Opinion
surveys show that the connection between the increase of energy
costs and the decrease of non-wage labour costs is often not well
understood.
Against
this background, Ecologic is conducting a study on behalf of the
German Federal Environmental Agency on the positive effects of the
ecological tax reform. The study places emphasis on the reform’s
impact on the private sector, with particular regard to enterprises
which have successfully adjusted to the changes due to the reform
and have profited from it, e.g. by implementing strategic business
models, developing new markets or introducing new technologies,
products and services. Furthermore, the effects of the reform on
private households are analysed.
First
results of the study will be presented to the public on Tuesday,
16 November in Berlin.
Along with
a number of enterprises which will report on their experiences,
the President of the Federal Environmental Agency, Prof Dr. Andreas
Troge and eco-tax experts Dr. Reinhard Loske (Bündnis 90/Die
Grünen) and Michael Müller (SPD) will discuss the continuation
of the ecological tax reform with representatives of politics, non-governmental
organisations and trade associations.
More
information is only provided on the German
website.
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