40.  The Committee accepts the implications of the findings established by the ECMT and endorsed by the Commission and the Transport Ministers that, at present, because of countervailing differences in other taxes and costs, the existing differences in rates of fuel taxation do not serve to distort competition in the haulage market.

41.  The Committee accepts the need for minimum rates of fuel duty in the EU. We consider that the increase in minimum rates embodied in the Energy Tax Directive should serve to avoid the generation of distortions to competition.