The Environment team at the British Embassy in Berlin, Germany have located a handy briefing note on envrionmental taxes in Germany. Written in January, this is an up-to-date review and is 11 pages long. It describes (in English) the ecological tax reform (ETR): introduction, continuation and further development. Through ETR, the German Government aims to encourage energy saving and efficient energy use, and to promote renewable energies.

Following the introduction of the ecological tax reform in 1999, the decision was taken to continue the reform until at least 2003. Furthermore, the Act on the Further Development of the Ecological Tax Reform entered into force in 2003, and the expansion to an ecological financial reform was initiated.

The document is available from the German Environment Ministry's website at:

http://www.bmu.de/english/download/files/oekost_en.pdf