asked Her Majesty's Government:When was the last occasion that the European Commission laid a report before the Council of Ministers, as they are obliged to do under Article 28(2) of the 6th Directive on VAT, on the question of reduced rates; and with what results. [HL835]

The European Commission last presented a report on the scope and impact of reduced VAT rates in member states of the European Community in November 1997. The report concluded that the present reduced VAT rates structure is not an obstacle to the effective functioning of the current EC VAT system and that, overall, there have been no significant Community-wide distortions of competition brought about by excessive disparities in VAT rates between member states.