§ Mr. LordTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the goods and services which he assesses correspond with the European Community's social or cultural objectives so as to make them eligible for a reduced or zero rate of VAT should the Council of Ministers' proposals to approximate rates of VAT applied by members of the Community be adopted.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardOn Friday 21 June I placed in the Library my letter of 19 June to the honourable Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) to which was attached a note summarising the previous proposals for the approximation of indirect taxes and the compromise proposals to be presented by the Luxembourg Presidency to ECOFIN on 24 June and an annex giving full details of the Presidency proposals.
These attachments include the list of essential products and goods and services "which correspond to social or cultural policy objectives" which was agreed as a basis for discussion at ECOFIN on 18 March.
However, the list itself is to be defined more closely, and it is not therefore possible to give a list of the items which might fall under it.