Press Release: Cross-border shopping: Commission asks Spain and the United Kingdom for information over travellers’ rights to bring home alcohol and tobacco

The European Commission decided on 12 November 2003 to send formal requests for information to Spain and the United Kingdom about their application of European Union law relating to excise duties and cross-border shopping. The Commission is concerned that the practices of these two Member States may jeopardise the right of all EU citizens to buy goods in other Member States, excise duty paid, and to bring these products home for their own use without any formalities and without having to pay taxes a second time.