Luxembourg Urged To Stop "Gas Pump Tourism"
Date: 01-Apr-10
Country: FRANCE
Author: REUTERS
Luxembourg should raise car fuel prices to discourage "gas pump tourism" by motorists from nearby countries and combat a rapid rise in carbon dioxide emissions, the OECD said Wednesday.
In an unusually frank statement on its environmental record, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said Luxembourg produced as much greenhouse gases in 2007 as in 1990 despite a goal of reducing that output by 28 percent.
Luxembourg was one of the world's wealthiest countries but churned out more municipal waste and carbon dioxide than most, said the Paris-based OECD, identifying road transport policy as the chief culprit.
The tiny landlocked state is known for a Swiss-style banking industry that attracts many foreign savers and investors but is also a magnet for motorists who cross the borders from Germany, Belgium and France to refill their fuel tanks cheaply.
"Luxembourg's low gasoline and diesel prices encourage 'gas price tourism'," the OECD said. "The (OECD's environment policy) review recommends that Luxembourg increase fuel taxes" closer to par with its neighbors, the OECD said.
It produced figures showing Luxembourg produced 22.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita in 2007, more than twice as much as Germany and three times more than average of European countries among the OECD's 31-country membership.
As Luxembourg struggles to recover from the global economic downturn, OECD chief Angel Gurria added in the same statement, "it would be a mistake to sideline the environment."
(reporting by Brian Love)
