The European Court rejected Greece’s appeal on Thursday to set a lower excise tax for tsipouro and tsikoudia, two of the most traditional and popular Greek alcoholic beverages, according to greekreporter.com.

Europe’s top court ruled in favor of the European Commission which claimed that lower taxes indirectly protected tsipouro and tsikoudia from competition from similar imported beverages.

Greece had introduced excise duties on tsipouro and tsikoudia at half the rate from that levied on imported alcoholic products.This angered the EU executive which viewed it as preferential treatment breaching European Union laws.

Read more HERE