HL Deb 03 March 1998 vol 586 cc158-9WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will review the impending abolition of duty free shopping by travellers between Member States of the European Union as previously agreed by their finance Ministers. [HL714]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The decision to end duty-free shopping within the European Union on 30 June 1999 was taken by the Council of Finance Ministers in 1991. Any review of that decision has to be for the Council as a whole. The Government have previously said that they will not stand in the way of any proposal for a Commission study into the impact of abolition, particularly if this were also to examine the nature of any successor regime to duty free.