WRITTEN QUESTION E-2513/03 by Koenraad Dillen (NI) to the Commission. VAT rates in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector.
Date: 2003-07-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: VAT rate, catering industry, derogation from EU law, fiscal policy, tax harmonisation

C 58 E/176

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(22 September 2003)

As the Honourable Member will be aware, the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) was formally
created, as part of the Reform process and by the agreement of all Institutions, on 26 July 2002. EPSO is
an inter-institutional body whose remit
the European
Communities on behalf of all European institutions. As the matters raised by the Honourable Member
fall within EPSO’s area of responsibility, the following information reflects the advice provided by EPSO.

is to select officials and other servants of

The official EPSO website was launched on 20 November 2002 and is a useful source of information for
potential candidates for Union competitions. While the pre-cursor to the current website was presented in
two languages, the covering pages of the new site are presented in English, French and German. It is a
‘quick reference’ facility which makes the latest information available to the widest possible audience with
minimum delay. It would be technically impossible to preserve this speed and spontaneity in the current
11 (or the future 20) official
languages of the EU languages. However, most standard information is
provided through links to official documents and publications, such as the Union Staff Regulations and the
Official Journal, and to other websites,
including the main websites of the European institutions and
bodies. The web version of the EPSO recruitment brochure was available on the site in 11 languages. This
document has been temporarily withdrawn for updating but will be re-instated, as soon as possible, in
20 languages.

There is no evidence to suggest that the EPSO website is inaccessible to large groups of Union citizens.
On the contrary, the site received some 2 000 000 hits in its first 10 days. Notwithstanding the very
considerable number of visitors to the site each day, during the 10-month period that the site has been
operational EPSO has received few, if any, complaints regarding the language coverage. Furthermore, there
has been no observed shift in the balance between applications from different Member States.

It should be noted that the website represents only one strand of the EPSO communication strategy.
Competitions continue to be advertised in the national press of Member States in the language of the
country concerned, and notices of competition targeting all Member States are published in the Official
Journal in 11 languages both in hard copy and on the web. Publicity is geared towards identifying the
most able candidates, capable of integrating effectively into a multi-cultural, multi-lingual environment
where English, French and German are the languages in most frequent use.

The Commission has taken note of the Honourable Member’s concern and EPSO will continue to monitor
competition statistics and feedback from web visitors, to identify any problems arising out of the current
policy.

(2004/C 58 E/189)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2513/03

by Koenraad Dillen (NI) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: VAT rates in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector

According to a number of reports in the media, the European Commission, following approval by the
finance ministers, is prepared to authorise France to apply a VAT rate of 5,5 % in the hotel, restaurant and
Jacques Chirac made a pledge to introduce such a measure during his presidential
catering sector.
campaign in 2002. However, when the Raffarin government moved to implement the proposal, the
European Commission called it to order.

Is it the case that, on an exceptional basis, the Commission intends to authorise a VAT rate of 5,5 % for
the hotel, restaurant and catering sector in France?

Why has the Commission changed its mind on this matter?

Will other Member States which make such a request also be authorised to introduce special VAT rates?

6.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 58 E/177

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(4 September 2003)

On 23 July the Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive on reduced rates (1). The main aim of the
proposal is to improve the internal market, in particular by pursuing the simplification, and more uniform
application, of value added tax (VAT).

In order to make substantial progress in that direction, the Commission has opted to focus on the
inconsistencies in the existing system of rates. The point is to ensure that all Member States, including the
new acceding countries, are treated more equally and to end the distortions created by the fact that some
countries are allowed to apply reduced rates to certain sectors while others are forbidden to do so.

Under a transitional derogation, restaurant services are subject to a reduced rate in eight Member States
whereas current Community legislation prevents the other seven from introducing such rates. This
situation has led this sector and certain governments to approach the Commission in order to secure this
option for all Member States. The reduced rate for restaurants was also the subject of arduous negotiations
under the enlargement process culminating in authorisation for Cyprus, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia to
apply reduced rates for restaurants until 31 December 2007.

The rationale for such situations is becoming increasingly tenuous, and there is no real justification for
perpetuating this state of affairs. There would seem to be two options open: either abolish such
derogations and apply the standard rate in all Member States or extend the option to apply reduced rates
to all Member States. There have been no complaints providing any evidence of serious distortion of
competition necessitating the abolition of the optional application of reduced rates in these sectors.
Consequently, the Commission has opted to include restaurant services in the new list of goods and
services to which reduced rates may be applied.

It is now for the Council to decide, unanimously, on the future scope of the reduced rates of VAT.

(1) COM(2003) 397 final.

(2004/C 58 E/190)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2522/03

by Dorette Corbey (PSE)
and Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(29 July 2003)

Subject: Mussel beds in the German part of the Wadden Sea

In its answer to our Written Question E-1755/01 (1) the Commission stated that it had ‘already launched
an investigation in order to assess the compatibility of the shellfish industries in the Wadden Sea and in
the river Ems with Council Directive 92/43/EEC (2) of 21 May 1992 on the
the wide mouth of
conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. The granting of a licence to harvest mussels
close to Delfzijl in the Netherlands is one of the subjects of that investigation’.

Can the Commission state whether the investigation has now been completed and, if so, what its findings
are?

Can the Commission state what action it intends to take on the basis of those findings, and when?

If the investigation has not yet been completed, can the Commission state when the findings will be
available?

(1) OJ C 364 E, 20.12.2001, p. 197.
(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.