A comprehensive analysis of an environmental tax reform where people are taxed on pollution and the use of natural resources instead of on their income, this book looks at the challenges involved in implementing this tax reform across Europe.

Budgets have a big influence on the economy and society. With many countries, about 50 percent of total expenditures and income pass through the budget via taxes, charges and expenditures. In recent years many countries, e. g. in the OECD and the EU, have tended to use this influence in an environmentally rational way. Tradi tional environmental policy has relied on command-and-control and cnd-olpipc technologies that have proven to be insufficient in coping with the challenge of glo bal change. Hence, many countries have started to investigate the environmental impacts of their budgets by looking at existing taxes and charges, as well as tax allowances and exemptions and other relevant regulations and expenditures -even to have a special impact on the environment. The implementation of those not meant such findings is now broadly discussed in these countries. This publication will contribute to the debate. It is a result of a wider project called Green Budget Reform -Prospects in Central and Eastern Europe. initiated by Vida Ogorelec Wagner, managing Director of Umanotera, The Sloven ian Founda tion for Sustainable Development, and then jointly developed. proposed to the EC and carried out in partnership with Kai Schlegelmich of the Wuppertal Institute in Germany. The project comprised an international seminar on Green Budget Reform in April 1997 at Lake Bled, Slovenia, and the Case Study of Sloveilla.

This book on Green Budget Reforms (GBR) provides comprehensive insight into how forerunner countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, but also Hungary and Poland, have designed and taken first steps toward GBR, with emphasis on Ecological Tax Reform (ETR). The book covers the proceedings of an international seminar held in Slovenia with contributions from economists of the European Commission, the OECD, finance ministries and researchers. It also includes the first comprehensive case study of Slovenia, demonstrating the unique opportunities for GBR in Central and Eastern European Countries in particular. The book is for policy makers, consultants, lecturers, and scientists who wish to make and measure progress in sustainable development. Readers can choose from a range of market-based instruments applied in various countries and adapt them according to the requirements of their countries.

A comprehensive analysis of an environmental tax reform where people are taxed on pollution and the use of natural resources instead of on their income, it looks at the challenges involved in implementing this tax reform across Europe.

ÔIngeniously organized in a life cycle format, the Handbook covers environmental taxation concepts, design, acceptance, implementation, and impact. The universal themes discussed in each area will appeal to a broad range of readers.Õ Ð Larry Kreiser, Cleveland State University, US ÔThis book is a smart and useful readerÕs guide providing analytical tools for a full comprehension of environmental taxes, with an interdisciplinary approach that looks at all the different phases of environmental taxation: from the design to the implementation, the political acceptance and the impact on the economy. The authorsÕ effort is very successful in endowing academicians, policy makers and the general public with an excellent proof of the effectiveness of environmental taxes and green tax reforms.Õ Ð Alberto Majocchi, University of Pavia, Italy ÔPutting the words ÒenvironmentÓ next to ÒtaxationÓ might not always be the flavour of the month, but no modern society can ignore the value of the natural environment and the need to maintain its good quality and no competitive economy can prosper without the necessary tax revenues to function. Environmental taxation offers the prospect of moving towards a more resource-efficient economy, where preference is given to tax more what we burn, less what we earn. I welcome this contribution to the literature.Õ Ð Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, European Commission ÔThe Milne and Andersen volume provides a splendid treatment of environmental taxation that encompasses the basic conceptual issues, problems of tax design and implementation, and several insightful case studies that show how environmental taxes actually work in practice. It is the best overall treatment of environmental taxation available: comprehensive, rigorous, and readable.Õ Ð Wallace Oates, University of Maryland, US The Handbook of Research on Environmental Taxation captures the state of the art of research on environmental taxation. Written by 36 specialists in environmental taxation from 16 countries, it takes an interdisciplinary and international approach, focusing on issues that are universal to using taxation to achieve environmental goals. The Handbook explores the conceptual foundations of environmental taxation, essential elements for designing environmental tax measures, factors that influence the acceptance of environmental taxation, the variety of ways to implement environmental taxes, their environmental and economic impact and, finally, the larger question of the role of taxation among other policy approaches to environmental protection. Intermixing theory with case studies, the Handbook offers readers lessons that can be applied around the world. It identifies key bodies of research for people who are already working in the field or entering the field and highlights issues that call for more research in the future. With systematic analysis of key issues in environmental taxation, this book will appeal to researchers, governments, think tanks, NGOs, and academics in law, economics, political science and public finance, as well as students specializing in environmental taxation and other market-based instruments.