European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis has suggested he was open to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's proposal for a special tax on petrol in EU member states to finance refugee-related costs.
In comments published by German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday, Dombrovskis said he agreed with Schaeuble's call for "innovative European concepts to cope with the refugee crisis".
Schaeuble attracted criticism from fellow conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) for suggesting earlier this month that the money from the extra levy could be used to pay for strengthening Europe's joint external borders.
He did not specify how high the additional tax on gasoline should be and whether Brussels or the EU member states would be in charge of collecting it.
"A gasoline tax, be it on a national or on a European level, could be a possible source of funding, especially when you consider that the oil price is at a historically low level now," Dombrovskis was quoted as saying.
He added that measures under consideration to better secure Europe's external borders were expensive.
"Security is a public good that Europe should ideally ensure collectively," he said.
(Reuters)
