Euro court will decide on

23rd March 2006, Page 16

23rd March 2006

Page 16

Page 16, 23rd March 2006 — Euro court will decide on

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E15bn aggregates levy

Quarrymen say an environmental levy has done more harm than

good — and they want their money back. Guy Sheppard reports.

A LEGAL CHALLENGE by quarry operators could force the government to pay them back millions of pounds raised in a levy on 'virgin aggregates'.

The tax was launched nearly three years ago to encourage recycling of used aggregates. but the British Aggregates Association (BAA) claims it has caused more environmental harm than benefit This is because products such as slate and china clay are exempt from the f.1.60/tonne charge so they are being hauled over longer distances to replace locally sourced materials which arc covered by the levy. The quarrymen's claim follows a hearing in the European Court of First Instance, which ensures that the European Union's treaties are not infringed.

The court's ruling is not expected until May the BAA says lawyers acting for the UK government and the European Commission have failed to give a convincing environmental justification for exempting some products and not others.

"They were scraping the barrel in trying to justify the levy," says BAA director Robert Durwood. He reports that to date the levy has raised £1.5bn, but accepts that the court is unlikely to order the UK government to repay all of it: "It will probably be about 10-20% of the total."

• Ennstone, which owns several UK and US-based aggregates companies, more than doubled its pre-tax profits last year to El 3m.