Set-back for duty-free campaign

Date: 14/11/1996

By Simon Coss

ANOTHER nail was hammered into the coffin of duty-free sales this week when EU finance ministers rejected calls for a study into the economic impact of abolishing them.

The idea floated by Irish Finance Minister Ruairi Quinn was given a cool reception by most of his colleagues, who feared it would wrongly imply that they were reconsidering a decision taken four years ago to end tax-free sales within the Union from 1 July 1999.

“It seemed odd to suggest a study when there is no change of policy on the cards,” said a financial expert from one member state.

But campaigners fighting to reverse the decision to scrap the system say they have not given up hope of winning a reprieve - or at least a temporary stay of execution - even though the European Commission has repeatedly insisted that duty-free sales are an anachronism in a truly single market and should therefore be scrapped.