Despite the best efforts of the French Senate, twice sending the law back to the Parliament with a modest amendment – proposing a still substantial 120% tax increase – the law was passed without further modifications.
Following the adoption, Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of The brewers of Europe, said: “What makes this even more galling is that beer has been singled out amongst the other alcoholic beverages-despite beer only representing 16% of the French drink market and per capita beer consumption in France already being the second lowest in the EU.”
The measure will hit all brewers and all beers, with only a slightly lower increase for some medium-sized breweries. Bergeron said: “One of the few rays of light for the French beer sector during the economic crisis has been the growth in micro-breweries, but these small businesses will also be hit with a 160% hike.
“And as for any health arguments that have entered the debate, one only has to note that it is the lowest strength alcoholic beverage that is being singled out here and even non-alcoholic beers will be hit by the top rate of 160%.”
The measure will hit not just French brewers but all brewers exporting to France. Bergeron, said: “30% of French beer consumption is imported beer, coming mostly from Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the UK. Simply put this tax increase destroys the business model of many of these brewers and may indeed lead to a number of brewery closures.”
Source: The Brewers of Europe
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