The eec has ruled that the rules stay the same for bringing cigs and booze into the uk and cannot be bought via the internet.
Whats the difference between these goods and any other goods bought abroad such as tv's etc etc.
and proves that there is no such thing as a free trade area.
As Romano Prodi said "It's politics, pure politics"
I agree even though im a non smoker and dont drink much. But do you know the difference? Is it simply the duty charged on these items are not charged on anything else?
Well one has popped up claiming it is a decision related to health. For example:-
"Deborah Arnott, director of the tobacco campaigning charity ASH, said a change in the law would have been "disastrous" for the health of Britons." [source BBC]
Another mentioned a flood:-
"Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy said: "Any other ruling would have caused anarchy and chaos, as the UK market would have been flooded by cheap booze and cigarettes." ".
The person who got it right was quoted as saying:-
"And in response, the head of the European Commission in the UK, Reijo Kemppinen, said: "This is a retrograde step for the European citizen's freedom to shop." ".
The whole decision makes a mockery of a single market conceived in the
80's and supposedly opened in 1992. We should resign ourselves to the fact that the EU single market is going to work like the US market (with State taxes etc. differing from Federal ideals).
Excise duty is charged on alcohol, tobacco, petrol, air travel etc. It is not charged on most things like TV's, where only VAT is charged. Our VAT rates are similar to the rest of Europe, our excise rates are not.
Having said that, the main reason prices here are higher is the same as the reason most things here are more expensive - the "rip-off Britian" phenomena. The excise duty on a bottle of wine is 1.29, on sparkling wine/champagne it's 1.65, on average strength beer it's 30p a pint. Compare that with the price difference between here and the rest of Europe.
The real rip-off is on decent wines - the excise duty is the same no matter how good the wine is (as long as it's between 5.5% and 15%), yet a bottle that might cost
2 in France may cost 8 here.
they are subject to excise duty.
next question
tim
Even if the ruling went the other way it would not be a good thing. Gordon would just bump up the Tax on something else.
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