Dim prospects for EU energy tax reform

Lawmakers are keen to promote energy efficient and cleaner fuels to combat climate change, to encourage alternatives to petrol and diesel and to get squeeze money out of motorists into the bargain.

The result is that the price of filling up your car varies wildly across the EU.

Drivers in the UK and Sweden are the hardest hit, facing prices at the pump that are 25 percent higher than in Luxembourg. Even so, despite offering the cheapest fuel in Europe, at €1.33 per litre, petrol...