Sir, - So, the Commission has insisted that duty free within the EU will go, as decided unanimously by the Council of Ministers in 1991. I must say I expected that as soon as I heard that the Commissioners themselves, by virtue of their diplomatic status, will continue to enjoy duty free purchases!
I often wonder what was in the brief of our delegate to the 1991 meeting. I am aware that both Aer Rianta and Aer Lingus "marked his cards" very clearly, so what happened?
However that is water under the bridge. We should now look for a viable alternative. I have a suggestion, which is based on the fact that the reason for abolishing duty-free, ie the equalisation of taxes throughout the EU, has not been achieved.
The suggestion is as follows. There is still a zone at sea and airports beyond the customs and immigration barriers which is technically "abroad". Why not avail of this to sell goods in that area at taxes that apply abroad. For example, wine and beer would be sold at the tax levels which apply in France, spirits at the levels which apply in Spain etc. The goods could be sold on arrival, since they are no longer "duty-free", thus avoiding the chore of lugging them around and saving the airlines the cost (and indeed the fire hazard) of carrying heavy loads of booze, perfumes etc. Sales could be made on the same basis on board aircraft and ferries.
This is surely a "win win" situation. The punter pays little more (duty-free prices are almost as high as the over counter prices in the States in question), the airports and transport companies retain their shops, the governments would get some tax, and the EU requirement would be met. It would probably benefit only those States where taxes are very high, such as Ireland and Britain, but so what - the others don't seem to care.
Well, something should be done, let's hear other ideas. - Yours, etc.,
W. J. Murphy, Malahide, Co Dublin.