A spokeswoman for the commission in Dublin said the Directorates General of Taxation and Customs and the Environment, which jointly sponsored the paper, had decided to accept documents from interested parties through August.

The green paper contains broad proposals for the development of taxes, charges and trading schemes to promote action to cut carbon emissions. Controversially, it calls on member states to adopt a tax on all forms of energy . . . including renewables . . . according to their content, to send a "price signal" on all types of externalities, not just carbon.

The proposals follow from the Directive on Energy Taxation (2004), which sought to reduce "distortions of competition" between fossil fuels and other energy products . . . widely understood to be a concession to member states which felt France, with its extensive nuclear power industry, would unfairly benefit from carbon taxes in other jurisdictions.

The latest green paper also expresses a preference for ultimately replacing the current emissions cap-and-trade system in favour of a tax regime which would send stronger price signals while also generating more exchequer revenue.