Vol. 496 No. 6
34 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether the EU decision to abolish duty free sales will be reversed; the bilateral contact, if any, he has had to discuss the issue with Finance Ministers of EU member states which are favourably disposed to the retention of duty free sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23706/98]
50 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Finance the latest discussion he has had with other EU Ministers regarding the desirability of retaining duty free for travellers within the EU; the further initiatives, if any, he has in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23669/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 50 together.
Ireland has long been supportive of duty free and we have raised this issue at Council and with ECOFIN colleagues on many occasions.
As the House will be aware, the initiative in relation to having the decision to abolish duty free sales for intra-community travellers post-30 June 1999 overturned rests with the EU Commission. So far, the Commission has indicated that it does not intend to bring forward proposals to reverse that decision, which has been enacted into European law. Any such reversal would require unanimous agreement at Council.
As I have informed the House previously, at my specific request, the proposed abolition of duty free sales was placed on the agenda for the ECOFIN Council meeting on 19 May 1998. While some member states were broadly supportive of my request, it was not possible to get the EU Commission to agree to undertake an EU wide study into the consequences of the abolition of duty free sales. On 2 November 1998, I wrote to a number of my ECOFIN colleagues to say that, should the issue be raised again, we would appreciate their co-operation and assistance in handling it at Council.
