Germany's plastic tax shelved after conservative lawmakers revolt
About two dozen conservative lawmakers refuse to back a planned plastic tax, and their parliamentary leader Thorsten Frei called the draft "certainly not acceptable" as is.
Symbolic image · Photo: Radulf del Maresme / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Germany's governing coalition has put a planned tax on plastic packaging on hold. At least 24 lawmakers from the conservative CDU and CSU have said they will not back the draft in its current form, according to Bild, more than the coalition's narrow majority in parliament. While the Cabinet approved a sugar tax on Wednesday, the plastic tax was not advanced.
Conservative parliamentary leader Thorsten Frei sided with the critics. "What is currently on the table is certainly not acceptable in this form," he told broadcaster Welt, saying costs and benefits for business and the public sector were out of balance. The dissenters cite heavy red tape and conflicts with existing packaging rules, according to the reports.
The draft foresees a levy of 550 euros per ton of plastic in packaging from July 2027, expected to raise about 1.5 billion euros a year from 2028. The money was meant to cover Germany's contribution to the EU plastic levy, currently paid from the general budget, leaving a new budget gap if the tax fails.