France's national assembly voted for the tax rise on high alcohol beer at the end of last year. The EU Commission is seeking an explanation from France on that decision. In a letter to the French authorities, Frits Bolkestein, the European commissioner for the Internal Market and Taxation, highlighted his worry over the impact of a €200 per hectolitre increase in taxation on beers with an alcohol content of more than 8.5 degrees.

The over-taxation is viewed as hitting imported beers particularly hard. While waiting for France to reply, the Commission could instigate proceedings for a breach of the trade treaty which prohibits the fiscal discrimination against goods which are imported from other member states, sources reported.

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