Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-18-Speech-3-062"
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"en.20060118.2.3-062"2
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"Mr President, Presidents of the three institutions, ladies and gentlemen, there is no such thing as a miracle formula for a successful presidency, but ambition and constructive cooperation between the institutions go a long way towards that end, and, as you have heard, you can count on our group’s support.
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, we will not be able to assess whether your presidency will have been successful until six months down the line, but in order to put you on the right track – or keep you on it, for I greatly appreciated your introduction – there are two concrete suggestions I should like to make.
Firstly, I would urge you to find a structural solution to the long-standing issue concerning the definitive list of goods and services that are eligible for the optional reduced VAT rate. We have procrastinated long enough. We must now take decisions.
The industries that are shown the carrot of the reduced rate – which includes the catering industry, but also other SME sectors – do not get what they want. Those who have emerged from the experiment with labour-intensive services, which has been extended three times, are in untenable legal uncertainty. Since I do not believe that the Commission will be able to tolerate manifest infringements of the sixth VAT directive for much longer, this strikes me as a priority area for action.
Secondly, I am delighted to hear that you would like to combine openness and protection in the services directive. In this House, we do not shirk the hard work either in order to reach a widely supported, positive majority. If you compare the Commission’s original proposal with the result of the work in this Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, you will see that a different approach is possible through amendments. If the Council supports us in this long-term ambition, this delicate dossier may well be able to turn a corner under your presidency.
I wish the Austrian Presidency – in the service of the European Union, as you yourself have put it – much success in these two, but also in the other, items on the agenda."@en1
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