EU finance ministers failed to reach a consensus on how to shield their economies from high oil prices but, in an apparent snub to France's unilateral action, the bloc's executive insisted on a co-ordinated response.
"You can imagine a bit how the discussion went probably because in June we agreed that in the field of energy taxation that no country would take unilateral action," Dutch Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm told a news conference after a meeting of the 12 euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg.
"Nevertheless we saw some action in one country in the Euro group, although of a limited nature."
He was apparently referring to French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's promise that any extra tax income the state generates as a result of rising oil costs will be returned to its citizens.
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