Green Trends in the Tax Policy of Developed Countries

Abstract

The subject of the study is the tax policy of the EU countries in relation to the green economy. The aim of the work is to identify ways to combat global warming and environmental pollution through tax policy instruments until 2030. The article establishes the structure of environmental taxes and fees, based on EU regulatory documents in the field of environmental policy. The strategy of the EU environmental policy called the "European Green Course" is considered as one of the directions of ensuring the sustainability of the economies of Western countries, which provides for the formation of a mechanism for taxation of carbon fuel consumers to compensate for climate damage caused by carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The analysis of the dynamics of the total volume of tax revenues in the EU for the period 2002-2020, including revenues from environmental and energy taxes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and the achievement by European countries of climate neutrality by 2050, i.e. a balance when greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide or methane, correspond to their absorption from the atmosphere. The article establishes a connection between the minimum tax rates on fuel and its energy intensity or greenhouse gas emissions. Conclusions are drawn about the trends in the development of the EU green economy, as well as the tools for their implementation.