Law to Amend the Mineral Oil Tax Law and Renewable Energy Law

A legal reform, the "Law to amend the mineral oil tax law and other laws", was passed by parliament in June 2002. The law raises the cap on total photovoltaic capacity that is eligible for premium payments under the renewable energy law, and extends mineral oil tax exemption to cover all biomass fuels. This law is accepted under reserve of the EU. On the photovoltaic front, the Renewable Energy Law, EEG (erneuerbare Energiegesetz), passed in April 2000, stated that only electricity from the first 350MW of photovoltaic plant capacity installed was eligible for premium payments. The feed-in tariff was originally EUR Cent 50.5/kWh (99Pf/kWh) but is now EUR Cent 45,7/kWh due to an automatic annual -5% ratchet built into the law. The reform raises this cap to 1,000MW. The new law benefits biofuels by exempting them from oil tax until the end of 2008. The law requires that the federal finance ministry draw up a report with the aid of other relevant ministries every two years, with the first due at the end of March 2004, to chart progress in the market introduction of biofuels, and to examine price developments of biomass, crude oil and automobile fuels. If deemed necessary, the ministry may recommend adjusting the size of the tax break for biofuels to fit the market situation. In the year 2006 the Mineral Oil Tax Law was replaced by the Energy Tax Act to comply with the Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity. With regard to taxation of biofuels the Energy Tax Act was amended by the Act on the Amendment of the Promotion of Biofuels (Gesetz zur Änderung der Förderung von Biokraftstoffen) in the year 2009.