Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) gave their green light on Wednesday 2 December to the amendment to the VAT Directive to temporarily exempt Covid-19 vaccines, test kits and related services from value added tax (VAT) (see EUROPE 12591/1).
The EU Council’s text contains no substantive changes to the Commission’s original text, will allow in vitro diagnostic medical devices on which the CE marking can be affixed and Covid-19 vaccines authorised by the Commission or by Member States to benefit from a zero or reduced rate.
The measure, which aims to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines and screening become affordable throughout the EU as soon as possible, is temporary and will be in place until 31 December 2022. In due course, the Commission will review the situation to determine whether the measure should be extended.
For its part, the European Parliament delivered a positive opinion on the proposal last week (see EUROPE 12610/14).
The text should be formally adopted next week, following a written procedure. It can be viewed with the following link: https://bit.ly/2Vr9Ga8 (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)