Brussels, 19/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to send requests for information in the form of letters of formal notice to Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Portugal about their application of reduced VAT rates to children's diapers, although these goods do not comply with the Sixth VAT Directive, which was revised last February. Commissioner László Kovács said that the Commission fully supports social and family friendly policies as part of these countries' response to the challenge of demographic ageing. Their arguments will be taken into account in the report on the application of reduced VAT rates which the Commission will present to the ECOFIN Council in mid 2007. The Commissioner for taxation said that, “This exercise will lead to a concrete proposal of the Commission, which would result in the creation of a clear legal basis for the application of reduced VAT rates to children's diapers ".