07/07/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 6 July, the European Parliament adopted a favourable opinion by 561 votes to 43 with 88 abstentions (see EUROPE 12741/17) on the proposal to transform the VAT Committee into a comitology committee, which, acting by a qualified majority, will oversee the adoption of implementing acts by the European Commission in the field of VAT (see EUROPE 12627/14). According to the proposal, comitology would only be applied for a limited set of rules implementing the provisions of the VAT Directive for which a common interpretation is needed. From the EU Council’s point of view, the text was discussed under the Portuguese Presidency. However, unsurprisingly, many Member States expressed reservations, particularly regarding the transfer of powers from the EU Council to the European Commission and the move to qualified majority voting (see EUROPE 12737/21). Read the European Parliament’s opinion: https://bit.ly/36mc33n (MF)