WRITTEN QUESTION E-2135/99 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Abolition of tax-free shopping and the impact on jobs.
8. 8. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 225 E/57 (2000/C 225 E/056) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2135/99 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (24 November 1999) Subject: Abolition of tax-free shopping and the impact on jobs On 1 July 1999 sales of duty-free goods in átax-free shopsí finally came to an end. These shops sold certain products (e. g. perfume, cigarettes and alcohol) tax-free to passengers on international flights. The ban followed a decision by the European Summit in Cologne on 3 and 4 June 1999 to apply Article 12 of the Sixth Council directive on VAT No 77/388/EEC (1) of 17 May 1977 in full. The article in question permitted intra-Community sales free of tax until 30 June 1999. For a variety of reasons there was considerable opposition to the abolition of tax-free shopping in the European Union, e. g. because of the negative effect on jobs. The Commission and the Council have always argued that the ban on tax-free shopping would not lead to a loss of jobs. However, the evidence emerging from the industry is different. For example, sales at Sky Shops in Zaventem have fallen by a quarter since 30 June 1999. Management have been obliged to make 60 full-time employees redundant. How many persons were employed full-time in tax-free shops in the European Union on 1. 1 January 1999? 2. How many persons were employed full-time in tax-free shops in the European Union on 1 June 1999? 3. How many persons were employed full-time in tax-free shops in the European Union on 1 July 1999? How many persons were employed full-time in tax-free shops in the European Union on 4. 1 October 1999? On the basis of the answers to questions 1-4, does the Commission acknowledge that the number of 5. full-time jobs in tax-free shops in the European Union has fallen? 6. Does the Commission feel that these job losses are due to the abolition of tax-free shopping in the European Union? If so, is the Commission prepared to review the ban on tax-free shopping? If not, to what does the Commission attribute the loss of jobs in the tax-free shops sector? (1) OJ L 145, 13. 6. 1977, p. 1. Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission (6 January 2000) The Commission always recognised that the abolition of duty-free sales for intra-Community travellers might have an impact on employment. This was the reason it could agree with the Council in 1991 to grant a transitional period for the phasing out of duty-free arrangements. More recently, in its communication to the Council concerning the employment aspects of the decision to abolish tax- and duty-free sales for intra-Community travellers (1), the Commission once again acknowl- edged that the abolition of duty-free sales is likely to affect employment. The impact was estimated by the Commission to be time limited and specific in terms both of localities and sectors affected, with maritime activities being potentially the most affected. This result was corroborated by estimates supplied by Member States on the foreseeable employment effects of implementing the Councilís decision to abolish intra-Community duty-free sales. The Commissionís analysis however also showed that, in the medium term, revenue recycling and sales re-location could well lead to a net creation of jobs. C 225 E/58 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 8. 8. 2000 The Commission does not have the requested information regarding the number of people employed in duty-free shops. The reason for this is that statistical data is only available on employment in the whole retail sector as such (2). In its analysis of the employment aspects of the Councilís decision, the Commission therefore based itself on industry estimates of jobs affected by the abolition of duty-free sales (3). These aggregate estimates however did not disclose the underlying employment figures for duty-free shops. As regards the employment impact of the abolition, the Commission would refer the Honourable Member to the reply given to written question E-1999/99 by Mr Davies (4). (1) COM(1999) 65. (2) Retailing in the European Economic Area 1997, Luxembourg 1998í by the European Commission (Statistical Office of the European Communities, DG XXI). See point 5 of the communication. (3) (4) OJ C 203 E, 18. 7. 2000, p. 109. (2000/C 225 E/057) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2141/99 by Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) to the Commission (24 November 1999) Subject: Consulting operators in the AL-Invest Programme On 23 September last the LAADC committee approved a new financial framework for the AL-Invest Programme covering the next four years. The programmeís operators apparently had little opportunity to participate in the preparatory discussions. To be more precise, the European side was not consulted at all, whilst just one meeting was held with the Latin American side. Does the Commission not believe that a system of communication ought to be set up to guarantee closer involvement for those concerned, with a view to enhancing the programmeís effectiveness and guaran- teeing the transparency in the Commission services called for by Parliament? Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission (6 December 1999) As to the first part of the question, the Commission would emphasise that direct contact with the operators is paramount. To this end, meetings were held in London (1998) and Barcelona (1999) under the title Connectí to enable operators to exchange ideas with the Commission over two days (in addition to the direct contacts between operators to prepare proposals for business encounters, which was the primary function of Connect). Each of these meetings enabled us to take stock of all the technical, administrative and financial aspects on which the success of the programme depends. Connect will be held in autumn each year between 2000 and 2004. In addition, direct and individual contact with operators takes place as necessary by e-mail and by post. Moreover a Web site has been set up, with a ámembers onlyí Intranet section reserved for operators (www. al-invest. org). The technical secretariat set up to support and advise operators will be maintained up to the end of 2005. This demonstrates the extent of the communications system made available to operators. As to the conferences organised in 1999 in connection with Phase 2 of Al-Invest, one was held for European operators (February 1999), one for Latin American operators (June 1999), and one for both European and Latin American operators (October 1999, Connect, Barcelona). There was only one significant change to the timetable: Phase 2 was presented to the LAADC Committee on 23 September 1999 instead of 14 October 1999: this may perhaps have taken some operators by surprise. The reason was quite simply that this enabled Phase 2 to be financed from 1999 instead of from the 2000 budget as initially proposed, which obviated the need for a stop-gap between Phases 1 and 2 of Al-Invest