Brussels, 26/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to initiate action with the European Court of Justice against Germany, Spain and France for infringement of the Community VAT legislation. In all three cases, the Commission brings into question the rate of VAT applied to certain goods or services: - in Germany, that applied for artistic services; in France, for the provision of gas and electricity; and in Spain, for the provision or import of liquefied petroleum gas and motorcycles under 50 cc. Below is an overview of these cases:
- Artistic services in Germany. The Commission considers that the VAT regime applied to certain artistic services gives rise to competition distortion in so far as, in one and the same sector of activity, divergent rates can be applied according to the statute of the artists. Musical groups or ensembles constantly enjoy a reduced rate of 7%, for example, while soloists only benefit from this if they act as organisers for their own show and are subject to the normal rate of 16% if they are at the service of an entertainment organiser.
- Gas and electricity in France. The Commission considers that France does not respect the principle of a single rate for one and the same kind of service in accordance with the 6th VAT Directive. For one and the same energy supply by public networks, Paris in fact applies two different VAT rates: a reduced rate of 5.5% on the fixed part of the energy price (subscription) and a normal rate of 19.6% on the variable part (depending on the number of kilowatts consumed).
- Liquified petroleum gas and mopeds in Spain. The Commission considers that the Spanish legislation is in infringement with the 6th VAT Directive as it provides for application of a reduced rate for the provision, the intra-Community acquisition or import of petroleum liquefied gas, as well as for mopeds of under 55 cc. None of these products appears in the annex H of the directive, where all those benefiting from a reduced rate are listed.
