Energy, Estonia, Legislation, Taxation, Transport

Rõivas said today in the parliament information hour that there has been plenty of argumented and substantial criticism regarding the fuel excise tax increase which must be taken into account. "However, unfortunately, there has been quite a lot of such belligerent and sometimes even personal criticism, and that makes me frankly pretty sad," he said.

Rõivas said that he understands that even if the fuel price rises relatively little, or about five cents a year, it can cause dissatisfaction in people. "But it is certainly not a reason to say that everything else must be left in a standstill in Estonia, and this is the only issue that defines the life in Estonia," he said.

Rõivas said that he is surprised by the fact that all the arguments relating to environmental protection have been ridiculed in a loud voice. The fact that Estonia has at Europe's lowest petrol prices the most polluting car fleet, cannot be ignored, he said.

Rõivas said that the government sees the risk that if Latvia will decide for some reason not to increase excise tax for years, then raising excise duty in 2019 in Estonia is too burdensome. "Therefore, we are looking for an alternative to not to raise fuel excise tax in 2019, and thus take a half-step back," he said.

Also, according to him, the government is considering "very seriously" the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's proposal to abolish the VAT concession on accommodation establishments gradually in order to avoid one-off price shocks. "Whether we succeed depends very much on what the alternative sources of financing are."