Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu. 

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 17 on revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development; which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under 'A stronger Europe in the world'.

SDG 17 calls for a global partnership for sustainable development. It highlights the importance of macroeconomic stability and of mobilising financial resources for developing countries. It also stresses the importance of trade and equitable rules for governing it. The goal also emphasises the importance of access to science and technology, in particular internet-based information and communications technology. 

In a global context, where consumption patterns in one region can severely impact production patterns elsewhere in the world, it is particularly important that prices reflect the real costs of consumption and production. They should, therefore, also include the payments for the damages activities cause to human health and the environment. EU policies such as the European Green Deal call for a shift from labour to energy and environmental taxes as part of a ‘greening’ of taxation systems, meaning that revenues from environmental taxes should increase relative to labour taxes. The European Semester monitors the progress towards the objectives laid down in the European strategies.

The indicator measures the share of environmental taxes in total revenues from taxes and social contributions. Environmental taxes are defined as taxes whose tax base is a physical unit (or proxy of it) of something that has a proven, specific negative impact on the environment. Environmental tax revenues stem from four types of taxes: energy taxes (which contribute around three-quarters of the total), transport taxes (about one fifth of the total) and pollution and resource taxes (about 4 % of the total). 

% (current prices)

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to high-level quality standards. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source dataset (see link to related metadata).

ESS

Data sources: Environmental tax revenue
Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

Every year

The indicator is updated annually. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

T+2 years

New data points are disseminated within two years (T+20 month) after the reference year.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

All EU MS

Data are comparable between all EU Member States respectively and other presented countries.

> 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2000.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.

Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

See table sdg_17_50.

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

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