Taxes are part of life. The economic circumstances are influencing taxes and taxes are used to steer consequences of economic situations; also car taxes. Prudent optimism could be the good description of the current feeling in the market. Although differences between countries in economic position in the EU make it difficult to make some comments valid for Europe, there's a clear trend toward green automotive taxation. It's a pity that those taxation measures are still too fragmented and too country driven, because it obstructs a well unified international fleet policy. 
You can read here which categories of car taxation measures are developed in different countries.

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