WRITTEN QUESTION E-1260/02 by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Tax in the Balearic Islands.
Date: 2002-05-06
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Balearic Islands, environmental protection, hotel industry, housing, residence permit, tax on consumption, tax system, tourism

6.2.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 28 E/89

(2003/C 28 E/097)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1258/02

by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Tax in the Balearic Islands

(6 May 2002)

On 23 April 2002 the Government of the Balearic Islands adopted Law 7/2001 on a tax to be levied on
stays in accommodation owned by holiday companies and to be paid into a fund which has been set up to
improve tourist facilities and to protect the environment.

The explanatory memorandum to the law states that the extraordinary development of tourism has
resulted in excessive spending on regional and environmental resources in the Balearic Islands and that
maintaining the competitiveness of the tourist product in the area will require an effort on the part of the
relevant institutions to ensure that it can be sustainably developed. Given the lack of sources of funding,
the abovementioned tax is therefore being introduced.

What does the Commission think of this new tax and of the way in which it relates to the Community’s
‘polluter pays’ principle?

Since it is stated in the explanatory memorandum that tourism as a whole is the cause of damage to the
environment, should the tax not be levied on all the tourist industry’s activities, in accordance with the
abovementioned Community principle?

Does the Commission not consider that excluding a major sector of the tourist industry constitutes
discrimination amongst the various service providers?

(2003/C 28 E/098)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1259/02

by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Tax in the Balearic Islands

(6 May 2002)

On 23 April 2002 the Government of the Balearic Islands adopted Law 7/2001 on a tax to be levied on
stays in accommodation owned by holiday companies and to be paid into a fund which has been set up to
improve tourist facilities and to protect the environment.

In the explanatory memorandum to the tax it is stated that the latter will provide extra funding for tourist
and environmental redevelopment programmes which will enable the Balearic Islands’ main economic
sector to evolve smoothly and rationally.

The tax is to be levied solely on companies which provide holiday accommodation and the revenue which
it generates will be used to finance improvements to the Balearic Islands’ tourist facilities in general.

Does the Commission not think that, in order to prevent any discrimination and to ensure that the tax
serves its intended purpose,
the tax should be levied not only on companies providing holiday
accommodation but also on the entire tourist industry in the Balearic Islands?

(2003/C 28 E/099)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1260/02

by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Tax in the Balearic Islands

(6 May 2002)

On 23 April 2002 the Government of the Balearic Islands adopted Law 7/2001 on a tax to be levied on
stays in accommodation owned by holiday companies and to be paid into a fund which has been set up to
improve tourist facilities and to protect the environment.

C 28 E/90

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2003

In the explanatory memorandum to that law it is stated that the tax is to be levied on stays (which are an
expression of a tax-payer’s financial means) in accommodation owned by holiday companies.

This new tax is to be imposed on the client paying for the accommodation, whilst VAT is imposed on the
businessman providing the accommodation. In both cases the businessman takes on all the obligations vis-
à-vis the tax authorities, whilst the cost is ultimately borne by the consumer.

Does the Commission not consider that this constitutes a case of double taxation levied on one and the
same taxable event, namely a stay in rented holiday accommodation?

(2003/C 28 E/100)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1261/02

by Carlos Ripoll y Martínez de Bedoya (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Tax in the Balearic Islands

(6 May 2002)

On 23 April 2002 the Government of the Balearic Islands adopted Law 7/2001 on a tax to be levied on
stays in accommodation owned by holiday companies and to be paid into a fund which has been set up to
improve tourist facilities and to protect the environment.

In the explanatory memorandum to that law it is stated that the tax is to be levied on stays (which are an
expression of a tax-payer’s financial means) in accommodation owned by holiday companies.

Does the Commission not think that such a tax may affect freedom of establishment in the case of
companies intending to operate in the Balearic Islands?

Does the Commission not think that such a tax would have a distorting effect on a company’s decision as
to where to trade, since it would constitute a factor external to the market and would therefore tend to
undermine the foundations upon which the internal market is built?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1258/02, E-1259/02, E-1260/02 and E-1261/02
given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 2002)

As the Honourable Member is aware, Law 7/2001 adopted on 23 April 2001 by the Autonomous
Community of the Balearic Islands introduces a levy on stays in tourist accommodation establishments.
The client pays the levy and the tourist establishment collects it. Although Law 7/2001 calls it a tax, it is
in practice more a tourism levy which is also imposed in some other EU destinations, e.g. as a ‘temporary
residence levy’.

The levy referred to by the Honourable Member has not been harmonised at Community level. The rules
governing it and the criteria for imposing it therefore fall within the tax jurisdiction of the Member States
as long as the fundamental principles of Community law are complied with.

Regarding the question of how the objective of sustainable development of territorial and environmental
resources relates to the Community’s ‘polluter pays’ principle, in its Communication of July 1997 (1) the
Commission stated that it is the characteristics and effects of a measure that determine how it will be
judged with respect to Community law and not what the Member States call it. In general terms, a levy is
considered as environmental if its taxable base has a clear negative effect on the environment. In the law in