London (Dow Jones)--A proposal to halve the European Union's aluminum import duty was blocked from progressing to the next stage for adoption, an E.U. official told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
"It was clear after (Friday's) discussion that there is not sufficient support to go ahead with the proposal," said Tomas Kucirek, head of unit for the E.U.'s tariff economics and customs duties division. "It was clear that the proposal has a blocking minority amongst some of the major countries."
The European Commission earlier this month adopted a proposal for an initial cut in the E.U.'s import duty to 3% from 6% with perhaps a further reduction to zero by Jan. 1, 2009.
The E.U. governments met earlier Friday in the Brussels-based Council of Ministers to discuss the proposal and give an indication of the popularity of the proposal.
Going forward, the E.U. Council Secretariat, the E.U. presidency - currently held by Germany - and the E.U. Commission will meet informally some time in the near future to discuss how to proceed and to set up a future meeting among the same E.U. government representatives, Kucirek said. Although no exact date has been determined, a meeting could come within the next three weeks to four weeks, he added.
In the lead-up to this future meeting, the countries that expressed support for the proposal may try to persuade those that were unsupportive, another E.U. official said.
The proposal has caused controversy as past efforts to cut the aluminum duty have been opposed by France, Germany and Spain, where many smelters are located.
Poland has been the main driver to lower the duty since its entry into the E.U. in 2004, because its manufacturers of aluminum products previously relied on imports from Russia.
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