 French President wants 160% increase in beer taxes October 31, 2012 - 18:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Francois Hollande is pushing through legislation to increase taxes on beer by 160%, according to RTE News. He wants help to fund struggling social security programs as France tries to lower a budget deficit hit hard by the economic crisis. The tax would affect local brewers and the 30% of imported beer the French drink. The Brewers of Europe trade group called the measure a ''kick in the teeth" for brewers. They have seen production plummet by 6% and consumption by 8% in the EU since the economic crisis began in 2008. Belgium and Germany could be the worst affected once the new legislation kicks in. Partner news  Top stories The bomber set off his explosives outside the gate of the United Nations Development Program base before attackers ran inside. Hamid Karzai accused Washington of mixed messages regarding peace talks with the Taliban, his spokesman said. The deal is estimated at $700mln-$1bln, Vedomosti newspaper reported citing sources in the Russian defense industry. Ahmadinejad will be replaced by Hassan Rowhani as president on August 3 following presidential elections last week.   Partner news |  Latest news LinkedIn suffers outage due to ‘DNS issue’  "We determined it was a DNS issue, we're continuing to work on it. Thanks for your patience,” the network tweeted."The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini dies at 51 "We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," the network said.Friends of Syria to meet in Doha on June 22: French official Assad's forces aim to retake Aleppo, where they have been mired in a bloody stalemate with rebels for nearly a year.Parliament approves amendments to law on minimum wage rate Besides, new scale of salaries will be introduced, according to which the minimum wage rate will be doubled by 2017. |
