§ Mr. Lathamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects discussions on the draft 18th European Community directive on value added tax to be completed; and whether he envisages any early action to assist United Kingdom bloodstock breeders in advance of the completion of these discussions, with a view to eliminating their competitive disadvantages with France and Ireland.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe draft 18th EC directive on VAT and the draft 19th directive, with which it is closely interlinked, propose the abolition of a range of derogations and comments have been invited from those industries, including the bloodstock interests, which are likely to be affected by the proposals. No discussions have taken place so far in the Council and any estimate of a date for completion of discussions would be purely speculative, at this stage.
As regards the last part of the question, I cannot usefully add to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend on 3 April at column 689.