Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Council is favourable to the European Commission's intention to include proposals providing for greater national flexibility as regards reduced rates in its action plan on the future of value added tax (VAT), which will be presented on Wednesday 23 March (see EUROPE 11509).
This action plan will include the option for member states of a zero rate for sanitary products, the conclusions adopted by the 28 EU member states on Thursday 17 March say.
In the draft action plan, of which EUROPE has seen a copy, the Commission intends to propose two options on this approach. The second option is of interest to the UK, where a debate is in full swing on VAT on sanitary products. This second option would purely and simply abolish the list of products benefitting from reduced rates, and would grant more freedom to the member states. According to some, most EU countries would nevertheless prefer the first option, which is a little more restrictive. The European Council conclusions do not specify any commitment of the member states to either the first or second option.
France reiterated its attachment to reduced VAT rates for digital books. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer with Camille-Cerise Gessant)