Arguments within

Public opinion strongly opposes such a tax proposal even though Sarkozy has consistently explained the tax collected will be returned in the end to taxpayers in different forms without burdening them further.

More than 70 percent of the French people expressed their disapproval of the tax, according to some polls. They deemed it would further eat into family budgets as the tax touched almost all aspects of their daily lives, such as oil prices.

The French Oil Industry Union indicated in October this year that the carbon tax would increase the prices of petroleum and diesel by 3.8 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively. With the addition of other new taxes, diesel would increase by close to 10 percent.

Many French also said the companies which polluted the environment should be responsible, not individuals.

However, the business sectors are also voicing their complaints. They say the carbon tax will jeopardize their international competitive edge and harm the companies' future development.

Tipper's delight not in wine

Despite the overwhelming opposition, Sarkozy has stuck with his decision to impose a carbon tax. Besides carrying out the policy in France, he also called for carbon tariffs on the borders of the European Union.

He said France was making efforts to reduce emissions while other countries could take advantage by producing products and exporting them to EU countries without honoring their commitments to reduce carbon dioxide release.

He added that this phenomenon was unacceptable for France, whose climate and employment would suffer.

Sarkozy said he was ready to commit himself to setting the same carbon tax in countries and regions outside EU, adding that an international carbon tariff was reasonable compensation for the national carbon tax.

Currently, Sarkozy is still lobbying some EU countries on the tariff, including during meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and German President Horst Koehler.

Analysts point out France is a traditional nuclear energy user, with a low level per capita emissions. If it was strict with the standard of carbon dioxide emissions, it would have great advantages worldwide.

Recently, the French government has been trying gradually to acquire consensus inside the EU on turning the carbon tax into a carbon tariff.

However, achieving this will be a complex process because of the different emissions of EU countries. For example, Germany's emissions are much larger than France's. That's why the German government has been circumspect in its language when addressing the carbon tariff issue.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2009)