Mr. Robert AinsworthTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has made to the European Commission concerning the Italian Government's proposals to reintroduce the imposta straordinaria; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe Government are very concerned about the difficulties which Italian car taxation has been causing exporters to Italy of luxury cars. This problem has been raised at regular meetings of the Internal Market Advisory Committee, which is chaired by the European Commission. In addition, I wrote to the Italian Finance Minister last month, urging the Italians not to reintroduce the imposta straordinaria, which we understood was then under consideration. We were pleased to learn that the Italian Government subsequently published their budget without including this tax.