The European Union is one step closer to reducing taxes on environmentally-friendly products that help to mitigate climate change. EU environment chief Stavros Dimas said yesterday that despite resistance from other member states, he would support a proposal by France and England to cut the value-added tax (VAT) on items ranging from energy efficient light bulbs to insulation materials.

In other words, the sales tax on your new efficient dishwasher in Sweden could drop from 85 to 75 percent.

That's a joke (we think), because there is little in the way of specifics about the plan, which faces a number of hurdles before it becomes reality, not the least of which is deciding what products would be eligible for the reduction.

In addition, any change to the VAT system requires the approval of all 27 EU governments, many of which are skittish about losing any revenue. Also hesitant about the plan are the higher-ups in the European Commission, who tend to see the VAT as a tool for "greening" the EU economy. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso played down the prospects for the plan yesterday, but didn't rule it out.

As we mentioned a few days ago, the EU can be as big a bureaucratic mess as the United States -- especially when it comes environmental issues -- as seemed to be the case at last week's Spring Summit for European leaders. The tax plan may not win approval, but at least the Commission has shown it is open to studying all fiscal tools that could be used to increase the use of green products.