Eurostat, Statistical Office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

L-2920 Luxembourg

Key policy question:
How (efficient) are the economic instruments to influence energy consumption used?
Are environmental costs (well/better) incorporated into the energy pricing system?
Is the EU progressing towards shifting taxation from labour to resource and energy?

Rationale:
The Indicator allows quantifying the role of fiscal policy in shaping demand for energy.
Implicit tax rate on energy measures the development of the burden of taxes on energy consumption. Many countries have set up energy taxes as an economic instrument aimed at improving the energy efficiency. The energy taxation Directive defines the minimum levels of taxation to be imposed on energy products and electricity. These levels of taxation should reflect the competitive position of the different energy products. The sustainable development strategy recommends that ´Member States should shift taxation from labour to energy consumption and/or pollution, to contribute to the EU goals of increasing employment and reducing negative environmental impacts in a cost-effective way´.

Limits:

Implicit tax rate on energy treats equally all kinds of energy consumption, regardless of their environmental impact; this means an energy unit of oil equivalent produced with hydroelectric power has the same weight as the same unit produced by burning brown coal. If tax rates are differentiated according to the environmental impact of different energy uses a country with an environmental friendly structure of energy consumption would have a low implicit tax rate on energy. Comparing across the countries, there are difficulties to explain whether low indicator is due to promoting environmentally friendly energy production by low tax rates on e.g. hydroelectric power and therefore the desired changes in the consumption patterns, or low energy tax rates on all energy products. In these circumstances it is useful to look at the changes in the indicator over time.

See data availability for table ten00120

This indicator is defined as the ratio between energy tax revenues and final energy consumption calculated for a calendar year. Energy tax revenues are measured in euro 2010 (deflated with the gross market product implicit deflator) and the final energy consumption in TOE (tonnes of oil equivalent), therefore the ITR on energy is measured in EUR per TOE.

ten00120 table: Eurobase > Tables by themes > Environment and energy > Energy > Energy Statistics Main indicators > Implicit tax rate on energy (ten00120)

Energy tax revenues are measured in 1000 EUR (deflated with the GDP implicit deflator).

The final energy consumption is expressed as 1000 TOE (thousands tonnes of oil equivalent).

As a consequence of this, the ratio between energy tax revenues and final energy consumption is measured in euro per tonne of oil equivalent (EUR per TOE) deflated.

Data refer to the calendar year.

Energy taxes are defined as a sub-group of environmental taxes and include taxes on energy products used for both transport and non transport purposes. The list of individual environmental taxes was agreed with the EU Member States. Data are provided by national authorities compiled as the supplementary table for Table 9 of the ESA 2010 Transmission Programme, so called 'national tax lists´.

Data on energy consumption are submitted on the basis of five Annual Joint Questionnaires employing an internationally agreed methodology. Eurostat receives disaggregated data which are used to countercheck the results and to ensure consistency with the total amount of energy consumption. The accuracy of the basic data depends on the quality of the national statistical systems and may vary from country to country. In several countries and for most energy commodities data provision by the companies is required by law. However, emerging liberalisation process in some countries may to some extent negatively affect accuracy in some cases.

ESS

Data set 1: Energy consumption data
Data set provider: Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), based on data from the covered countries
Link to the data source: Complete energy balances [nrg_bal_c]

Data set 2: Energy taxes data
Data set provider: Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), based on data from the covered countries
Link to the data source: Environmental tax revenue [env_ac_tax]; energy taxes by economic activities [env_ac_taxind2]

Every year

Annually

The statistics on energy tax revenues are collected annually through the National Accounts (national tax lists). They are also collected through the annual data collection on environmental taxes by economic activity.
The statistics on Total Energy Consumption are collected through the annual Joint Questionnaire.  Both data sources are then treated to find inconsistencies.

All EU MS

Annual data are available for the Member States of the European Union plus Norway, the Republic of Serbia and Turkey.

All EU MS

Comparability between countries is high for the two data sources used to compile the implicit tax rate on energy. The procedure to identify energy taxes is the same for all the countries. A statistical guide on environmental taxes was published in 2013. This provides a harmonised framework for identifying environmental taxes and in particular energy taxes.  

In the case of final consumption of energy, Eurostat verifies to the extent possible if the reported data respect the prescribed methodology. The underlying data collection methods are however the responsibility of the Member States, but the methodology is harmonised for all EU and OECD countries, including the USA and Japan.
See also 14.1. Overall accuracy.

> 10 years

Time series are given from 1995 to 2017. EU aggregated data is available from 2002 on.

> 4 data points

Comparability over time is high. The methodology for energy statistics follows a well defined standard that has not been changed significantly in the past. Data is collected from reliable sources applying high standards with regard to the methodology and ensuring a high degree of comparability. 
The data are subject to annual revisions. From time to time specific actions targeted to selected items to improve the methodology including the time series are carried out. Backwards calculations are made in case of any changes in the methodology.
See also 14.1. Overall accuracy.

Taxation trends in the European Union: Data for the EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, 2018 Edition

Eurostat publications on Sustainable Develoment Indicators

Eurostat Eurobase data table
Eurostat Eurobase graph
Eurostat Eurobase map

Environmental accounts dedicated section

For information on any comment possibly made by the Commission, please refer to European news room.

References:
Eurostat publications on Sustainable Develoment Indicators

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