Filenews 14 July 2025 - by Theano Thiopoulou
The European Commission is preparing to unveil revenue-boosting tax measures that include: the EU taking part in the increased collection of excise duties on tobacco, a levy on non-recycled e-waste and a handling fee for long-distance e-commerce parcels — a measure that is expected to hit imports from China hardest. A roadmap published by the Commission in February 2025 for the new 7-year budget, proposes new sources of revenue: "To make the EU budget worthy of our ambitions, to ensure the repayment of NextGenerationEU loans (which will start after 2027) and at the same time to keep Member States' national financial contributions stable; New own resources must be introduced", it is characteristically stated.
As the Commission prepares to present its new Multiannual Financial Framework, its new 7-year budget, which will run from 2028 to 2034, the battles in Brussels are peaking over revenue sources. According to leaks in the European press, as well as official state documents from member states' agencies that have seen the light of day, the Commission is studying a plan for increases in the special tobacco tax that will reach even a staggering 1,090% and will be imposed uniformly throughout the European Union. The Commission has not taken a public position on whether to propose a revision of the Tobacco Excise Duty (TED) Directive, which has been in force since 2011. A few weeks ago, a draft proposal for the revision of excise duties on tobacco was leaked to EURACTIV, which proposes significant increases in taxes on all types of tobacco, whether cigarettes and bulk tobacco or heated products.
The second tax that the European Commission is expected to propose, concerns the imposition of a tax on large companies operating in Europe, in an effort to create new independent sources of financing for the European Union's common budget of more than 1 trillion euros. euro. The so-called "corporate resource for Europe", outlined in a draft Commission proposal seen by the Financial Times, is expected to be presented next week, but requires unanimous approval by member states to enter into force. After calculating subsidies and taxes — what the EU defines as "net turnover". All large companies operating in Europe would be subject to the tax, regardless of their registered office, according to the draft, while a system of "tax scales" would require higher contributions from the companies with the highest net income.
The Commission regularly proposes new EU-wide taxes when presenting the EU's seven-year budget, but such measures – such as a financial transaction tax – often fail to secure the necessary support. However, its ambitions for a bigger budget have long faced resistance from countries that contribute more to the budget than they receive, in particular Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland. Sweden and Denmark.
