European Commission plans to raise the minimum tax rate on alcohol on Tuesday (7 November) fell foul of EU finance ministers who could not agree to the proposals.
"We had a lively debate on the importance of beer, beer was one of the problems today," Finnish finance minister Eero Heinaluoma said after the meeting.
The commission had proposed a 31 percent increase in the minimum tax on alcohol to reflect the rate of inflation since the last time the levy was set 14 years ago.
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