Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

French farmers will have been relieved to hear the comments of president Nicolas Sarkozy on France’s carbon tax project, which will see farms paying a tax of €17 per tonne of carbon dioxide from 2010.

Mr Sarkozy revealed that “certain sectors have a particularly strong dependence on fuels, including transport, agriculture and fishing”.

“I ask the government to rapidly find ways to avoid excessive damage to the competitiveness of these sectors, while continuing to encourage energy savings,” he added.