„We, the Social Democrats, like other opposition political groups, did not support [excise duty hike]. We did not participate in voting on (&) excise duties on fuel yesterday and this passed by the votes of Conservatives and Liberals. (&) We are in the opposition, we do not have enough votes,“ MEP Blinkevičiūtė told the radio station Žinių radijas Friday.
She said that the LSDP opposed higher value added tax (VAT) and other consumer-related taxes.
„Ruling parties adopted that law and one should ask them why they did this,“ said the MEP.
She added that legislation concerning defence funding should have been adopted much sooner.
As reported, on Thursday parliament voted for the Defence Fund package, which will increase the national defence spending to 3% of GDP. The package consists of four parts: the extension of the solidarity contribution paid by banks, a raise of the corporate income tax from 15% to 16%, a raise of excise duties and the concept of the security contribution on insurance agreements.
