Smear campaign fails to discredit UK's bid for duty harmonisation

European Commissioners have been accused of adopting a smear campaign to discredit the UK beer trade's bid for duty harmonisation across Europe.

The accusations were made by industry insiders after a report was circulated to the press stating that plans to harmonise duty across all member states had been ditched.

But thePublican.com has learned that the plans have not been scrapped and that international commissioner Fritz Bolkestein is pressing ahead with the proposals, which would mean a significant cut in UK beer duty rates, despite inside wrangling.

Stuart Neame of Kent brewer Shepherd Neame said the plans had come across strong opposition and that the false reports to the media were probably an attempt to kill the proposals.

"Doing nothing is not an option for the EC, but there is no doubt that the proposal has run into some very powerful opposition within other parts of the commission," he said.

"That may explain why someone tried to kill it with a false report that the proposals had been dropped.

"It is believed that commissioners from EU states that already pay low duty rates may be at the heart of the disruption, because if plans go ahead they will have to pay more. The UK, on the other hand, would see rates lowered to bring them into line with the rest of Europe - a move the trade has been calling for for years to stem the tide of bootlegged alcohol.

A spokeswoman for the EC said that Mr Bolkestein had met with fellow commissioners yesterday (September 11) in a private session to debate how the harmonisation plan should proceed.

Having ruled last year that there was a problem caused by the wide disparity in duty rates in different countries, Mr Bolkestein proposed to gradually align duties across Europe.

The UK Government, however, has opposed the plans because it will mean less duty revenue from beer production - but the industry is supporting Mr Bolkestein along with the All-Parliamentary Beer Group of MPs.

The group's secretary Robert Humphreys said: "The original proposals are likely to be modified, but having identified that there is a problem with duty levels across the EU, Commissioner Bolkestein is obliged to suggest a way of remedying it."