§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the current VAT agreement expires; and what representations he has received from the European Commission concerning its renewal. [16695]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Sixth VAT Directive (77/388) is the principal European Community (EC) level agreement on VAT, and remains in force automatically in the absence of unanimous agreement to change it. The European Commission has published a suggested programme for progress towards a "common system" of VAT to apply throughout the European Community, but has yet to produce any legislative proposals on the substantive VAT issues of its programme.