Smaller fishermen are very dissatisfied with the government's decision to postpone the CO2 tax on the fishing industry by five years to 2030.
The abolition of the tax weakens the competitiveness of smaller fishermen who would like to switch to more sustainable fishing. Instead, the tax exemption benefits large fishermen who are more harmful to the climate and the environment. This is what fisherman Søren Jacobsen, who is chairman of around 100 fishermen in the Association for Careful Coastal Fishing, tells DR.
- It is criticizable, and it is like peeing in your pants to postpone.
The tax came into effect on January 1, 2025. But after just one month, the government chose to neutralize it by returning the tax payment to the fishermen - a maneuver that costs three-digit millions.
The government's argument is that the fishing industry cannot adapt at the moment, among other things. because there are no alternative green fuel alternatives to diesel, and that fishermen would therefore sail to ports in other countries instead.
However, the Association for Careful Coastal Fishing tells DR that none of their members have protested about the tax, and that they could have paid it.
One of the purposes of the CO2 tax is to function as an instrument that improves the competitiveness of companies and actors that reduce pollution. However, the decisive mechanism is now disappearing, several critical parliamentary spokespeople have pointed out.
SF: Tax neutralization is a breach of agreement
To Ritzau, SF's climate spokesperson Carl Valentin has pointed out that the neutralization of the tax on fishing can be described as a breach of agreement that lowers confidence in climate policy.
- If there was a fisherman who had prepared to pay the tax, they would just get a long nose, it was said.
Carl Valentin is also concerned about whether agriculture will be inspired when the tax hits them in 2030.
- Will a farmer be able to say that they should have it postponed if they have not had time to adapt, said the spokesperson.
/ritzau/
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