Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2026) 1780
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notification: 2026/0335/DE
Notification of a draft text from a Member State
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Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délai - Kein Fristbeginn - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nezahajuje prodlení - Fristerne indledes ikke - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - No abre el plazo - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Ne otvara razdoblje kašnjenja - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Non fa decorrere la mora - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Atlikšanas laikposms nesākas - Ma jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dewmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nezačína oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Inleder ingen frist - Ní osclaíonn sé na moilleanna
MSG: 20261780.EN
1. MSG 001 IND 2026 0335 DE EN 06-07-2026 DE NOTIF
2. Germany
3A. BMWE Referat E B 3
3B. BMF Referat III B 4 – Grundsatzfragen des Verbrauchsteuerrechts; Verbrauchsteuern auf Genussmittel
4. 2026/0335/DE - C51A - Beverages
5. Draft Bill on the Accompanying Budget Act 2027 (Article 3 – Amendment to the Alcopop Tax Act)
6. Alcoholic soft drinks (alkopops)
7.
8. Article 3 of the draft bill provides for an amendment to the Alcopop Tax Act (AlkopopStG). In addition to the increase in the tax rate, the tax generation under the AlkopopStG (not harmonised) should always in future coincide with the tax generation under the Alcohol Tax Act (AlkoholStG; harmonised). An alcopop is always a taxable item within the meaning of the Alcohol Tax Act. As a result, specific tax warehouses for alcopops could be abolished and their transport could be carried out and monitored exclusively in accordance with the Alcohol Tax Act (hitherto, coffee tax legislation has also been applied in some cases to the carriage of these products). Existing frictions between the AlcoholStG and the AlkopopStG will be dismantled and, in the future, the digitalisation of the accompanying document will be facilitated. A catch-all provision and a transitional arrangement have been included to complement these measures.
The amendment to the AlkopopStG is to be implemented within the framework of the Budget Accompanying Act 2027 and is, therefore, part of this legislative proposal from the outset.
9. The AlkopopStG legislation regulates the manufacture, import, placing on the market and use of alcopops. By being designed as a law on excise duties, the provision contains tax measures based, in particular, on the consumption of alcopops. The AlkopopStG is intended, in particular, to protect young people, a principle enshrined in the legislation.
9a. The tax rate on alcopops is being adjusted to help consolidate the federal budget.
The remaining amendments to the AlkopopStG are intended to facilitate digitalisation with a view to the future use of EMCS and, consequently, to simplify the transport procedure.
Alcopops must also simultaneously be alcohol products (cf. Section 1(2) point 4). Unlike coffee, these are therefore not products that are not subject to a harmonised excise duty. Rather, the alcopop tax is a special tax on certain alcoholic products that have already been harmonised under EU law, for which an EU-wide excise duty monitoring procedure is in place for that very reason. The application of the Coffee Tax Act to intra-Community trade and exports via other Member States up to now does not take this fact into account, with the result that, in such cases, both alcohol and coffee tax legislation apply in parallel. This creates a considerable burden on the part of businesses and on the part of the administration, as in principle two different surveillance procedures apply to the same product. To avoid this duplication of effort, the Alcohol Tax Act will be the sole basis in the future.
In addition, a separate chargeable event giving rise to taxation is established for the production of alcopops from alcoholic products in free circulation. This is necessary for the production of alcopops from alcoholic products in free circulation because it takes place outside the monitoring procedure under the Alcohol Tax Act. This is regulated in the revised paragraph 2 by means of a separate chargeable event, modelled closely on Section 18(5) of the Alcohol Tax Act. Transitional arrangements have also been put in place.
9b. The legislative amendments set out herein are necessary to bring the current legal framework up to date, in particular to enable the digitalisation of the accompanying document at a later stage.
9c. There is no excessive burden in relation to the objective pursued.
10. Reference to the basic texts:
11. No
12.
13. No
14. Yes
15. No
16.
TBT aspects: No
SPS aspects: No
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European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
