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Merkel (l) and Sarkozy (r) don't see eye to eye on the fuel tax idea (Photo: European Communities)

EU split on fuel tax while Chavez makes oil threats

French and Italian ideas on using taxes to combat rising fuel prices gained ground at an EU summit on Thursday (19 June) despite hostility from several member states, even as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez threatened to cut EU oil supplies in protest against new deportation rules.

"I wasn't told 'move on, there's nothing to see here'," French president Nicolas Sarkozy said after the first day of the EU meeting in Brussels on his suggestion to cut VAT on fuel, AFP reports. "[It] doesn't solve a...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

Merkel (l) and Sarkozy (r) don't see eye to eye on the fuel tax idea (Photo: European Communities)

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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