Environmental taxation and the implementation of the polluters pays

This chapter deals with matters of interest which arise from the interrelation between environmental policy pursued at the EU level and exploitation of the tax function which pushes economic operators to make more eco-friendly products for the Single Market. In this regard, the ‘Polluter Pays Principle’ as enshrined in Arts 191-193, TFEU plays a fundamental and guiding role. The complete understanding of how and to what extent the principle interacts with the fundamental freedoms of EU law, and especially with State Aid legislation, acquires a crucial centrality. The chapter then provides a critical assessment of the observance of the ability-to-pay principle in environmental taxation and offers a quick overview of the recent adoption of the socalled ‘EU plastic tax’, in terms of consistency or discontinuity with previous experience of environmental taxation.