France, Italy opposed in fuel tax plan

BRUSSELS, June 20 (UPI) -- Germany and various Scandinavian countries opposed French and Italian suggestions to use value-added taxes to lower fuel prices, officials said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said value-added taxes wouldn't solve all the problems of rising fuel prices "but at least that would be a response to a problem that we need to get a hand on."

Sarkozy and various leaders commented on the proposal after the first day of a European summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the EU Observer reported.

Germany, Finland, Denmark and Sweden stood opposed to the tax plan, while in Spain farmers took to the streets to demand relief from high gas prices, the report said.

"I would be reluctant to introduce short-term measures," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Finland's Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was also opposed. High fuel costs were due to "the difference between the demand for oil and the production of oil," he said.