WRITTEN QUESTION E-1999/99 by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission. Abolition of duty-free sales.
Date: 1999-11-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU statistics, application of EU law, duty-free sale, economic consequence, employment statistics, job creation, job cuts

18.7.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 203 E/109

Given the distinctive character of the Internet it would undoubtedly be appropriate to introduce special
arrangements, for instance permitting net-price marking where all still accruing taxes and costs (e.g. VAT,
shipping costs, customs duties ) can be queried by the consumer. Otherwise the European Internet
suppliers might be disadvantaged in relation to the American suppliers in competition and the consumer
would be deterred by numerous figures in online transactions (11 different standard VAT rates).

Does the Commission have plans for such special arrangements for trading on the Internet in order to
remove the justified doubts of the industry, and what exemptions from gross-price marking might those
arrangements include?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 1999)

The purpose of Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on
consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers (1) is to stipulate
indication of the selling price and the price per unit of measurement of products offered by traders to
consumers. Article 2 of the Directive defines selling price as (cid:145)the final price for a unit of the product, or a
given quantity of the product, including VAT and all other taxes(cid:146).

Furthermore, Article 4 of Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May
1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts (2) states that the consumer, prior to
the conclusion of any distance contract, must be provided with information on the price of the goods or
services, including all taxes, delivery costs where appropriate, and the cost of using the means of distance
communication where it is calculated other than at the basic rate.

There are no specific Community provisions on the currency in which prices must be indicated, but it is
necessary to take account of Article 4 of Directive 98/6/EC, which allows Member States to provide for a
limit on the maximum number of prices to be indicated.

As far as Internet trading is concerned, the rules deriving from Directive 98/6/EC remain applicable.
However, attention is drawn to the amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of
the Council on certain legal aspects of electronic commerce in the Internet market (3), Article 5(2) of which
stipulates that (cid:145)Member States shall provide in their legislation that where Information Society services refer
to prices and other essential terms and conditions, these are to be indicated accurately and unequivocally
and must include all additional costs(cid:146).

(1) OJ L 80, 18.3.1998.
(2) OJ L 144, 4.6.1997.
(3) COM(1999) 427 final.

(2000/C 203 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1999/99

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(9 November 1999)

Subject: Abolition of duty-free sales

How many jobs in the relevant sectors does the Commission estimate have been lost (or gained) in each
Member State since the abolition of duty-free sales?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(6 December 1999)

Considering that intra-Community duty-free sales were only abolished on 1 July 1999, the Commission is
not at this stage in a position to estimate the employment impact of this measure. As it predicted,
however, the initiatives taken by operators to adopt a strategy aimed at keeping customers will largely
have alleviated any negative effects that the abolition might have entailed.