Alcohol and alcoholic beverages: adjust the minimum rates of excise duty (amend. Directive 92/84/EEC)

 The committee adopted the report by Astrid LULLING (EPP-ED, LU) amending - under the consultation procedure - the proposed directive amending Directive 92/84/EEC on the approximation of the rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages. MEPs in the committee voted to repeal Article 1, Article 3(1) subparagraph 1 and Articles 4, 6 and 8 of Directive 92/84/EEC dealing with minimum rates of excise duty, and instead proposed that Member States, on a proposal from the Commission, should lay down a Code of Conduct no later than 31 December 2009 under which Member States with duties above the EU average would take steps to freeze and gradually lower them, and those with duties below the average would consider raising them by an appropriate amount, in both cases "depending on the status of their economic cycles".