Bulgarian MEP Kristiyan Vigenin re-submitted a proposal for removing the excise tax on homemade rakiya for personal use to the European Parliament's committee on economic and monetary affairs on Tuesday.

The issue is a sensitive one for Bulgarians, for whom the distillation of homemade rakiya is annual harvest ritual.

Socialist Vigenin submitted the proposal for repeat consideration, despite the fact that the European legislature already rejected it once last month.

His amendment proposes a zero excise duty on the beverage, rather than outright annulment of the tariff.

Vigenin is confident that this time around his colleagues in the European Parliament will back the proposal, given the successful track record of similar amendments for Greece, Italy and Portugal.

Homemade rakiya is a deeply-rooted Bulgarian tradition and the zero excise duty will not have any significant effect on the alcoholic beverages in the country or the European Community, the Bulgarian MEP said in his explanatory note.

"Obviously, the amendment will not pass with the votes of the European Socialists alone, so we will ask for the help of our colleagues," Vigenin said.

The votes of the centre-right European People's Party, the biggest group in the bloc's legislature, were decisive in defeating the motion the first time around.

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