Research project HL/DD/04 (Research action HL)
The study deals with the interaction between the international economic order and efforts geared to sustainable development from the point of view of a small, open and thriving economy that is aiming at a high level of environmental quality by means of specific environmental taxation. In the first instance, the modern-day international economic order is analysed in accordance with the room it offers our country to crystallise these efforts through environmental taxation. In the process, economic as well as institutional boundaries are investigated. Secondly, the study questions how today’s international economic order can be remodelled so that it provides a positive stimulus for sustainable development. Third and finally, it examines how our country might contribute to the emergence of an international set of tax instruments geared to sustainable development.
Today’s international economic order is characterised by a heavy emphasis on the liberalization of business transactions and the trade in production factors and by a high degree of both economic as well as environmental institutionalisation. These characteristics are placing both economic as well as institutional constraints on policy autonomy. An initial topic for investigation concerns the extent to which a small, open economy like Belgium’s has sufficient room in which to pursue a high-calibre environmental policy by developing its own environmental taxation. Both the economic as well as institutional boundaries of this are investigated. The study of the economic boundaries primarily concerns the influence of environmental policy on a country’s competitive position. Within this framework, ‘deterrent and attraction hypotheses’ are also discussed. At the same time, our wish is to use sector studies to ascertain whether Belgian industry is being damaged by ‘ecological dumping’. Institutional boundaries are investigated on the basis of the rules that have emerged within the GATT/WTO framework.
The pursuit of sustainable development demands that, while integrating environmental policy and international economic policy, the latter should be remodelled to provide a positive stimulus for environmental conservation. One requirement here is that countries should be given the chance to pursue their own fiscal policy geared to sustainable development without being penalised for doing so by the international economic order. A number of possible alternatives are being investigated, for example: tying in further trade liberalisation as a reward for a more sustainable environmental policy; triggering environmental clauses within international trade arrangements; establishing rules making it possible to protect a nation’s policy autonomy by eliminating the negative effects of national policy measures on competitive strength (e.g. border tax adjustments); and the spread of technology.
Among its aims, this study sets out to further embellish Belgian standpoints in the various international forums.
Achieving an international set of fiscal instruments implies that environmental taxation will form part of international trade arrangements which allow efforts towards sustainable development. Specific problems are also emerging with regard to less developed countries (at the global level) or less developed regions (within Europe). This study topic examines the boundary conditions under which it becomes possible for these countries / regions to aim for a high degree of environmental quality internationally without damaging their development objectives as they do so. In this section, issues such as burden sharing, as applied to a C02/energy levy, are discussed. We conclude with an overview of the suggested solutions for each study topic and an examination of whether these are complementary.
working paper n° 2: Environmental Policy and the Inward Investment Position of US 'Dirty' Industries
Johan Albrecht (Universiteit Gent)
working paper n° 3: Milieu en Competitiviteit
Johan Albrecht en Marc De Clerq (Universiteit Gent)
De internationale economische orde: opportuniteiten en beperkingen voor een Belgische milieufiscaliteit: eindrapport
De Clercq, M. Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1017)
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[Exhausted]
De internationale economische orde: opportuniteiten en beperkingen voor een Belgische milieufiscaliteit: bijlagen
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1018)
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Opportuniteiten en beperkingen voor een Belgische milieufiscaliteit: samenvatting
Brussel: DWTC, 2002 (SP1019)
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Opportunities and limitations for Belgian environmental taxation: summary
Brussels: OSTC, 2002 (SP1020)
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