Press releases
ENPA, the association representing newspapers and news media in Europe, welcomes the announcement of the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, regarding a future EU proposal to reduce VAT on digital press. In a keynote speech at the event organised in Brussels on 6th May by the German Federation of Newspaper Publishers (BDZV), President Juncker underlined that the Commission would put forward a proposal in the first half of 2016 to provide Member States with the possibility to apply reduced rates of VAT on digital press. This important statement has confirmed the political will of the European Commission to take action as regards the rates of VAT applicable to press and books in the digital environment.
In addition, the EU Digital Single Market strategy, which was also presented on 6th May, underlines that “the Commission will explore how to address the tax treatment of certain e-services, such as digital books and online publications, in the context of
the general VAT treatment.”
ENPA President Ivar Rusdal joins the BDZV President Helmut Heinen and ENPA Vice President Valdo Lehari Jr. in supporting this long awaited progress achieved in the debate for lower VAT rates on digital press and calls on all Member States to give their unconditional support to such a change. ENPA also welcomes the decision by the Norwegian Government, announced yesterday, to introduce the same zero-rate VAT for digital news publishing as Norway already provides for printed newspapers.
For further information:
Sophie SCRIVE
Deputy Executive Director
ENPA–European Newspaper Publishers’ Association
Mail: sophie.scrive@enpa.be
Tel: +32 2 551 01 90
The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) is the largest representative body of newspaper publishers across Europe. ENPA advocates for 14 national associations across 14 European countries, and is a principal interlocutor to the EU institutions and a key driver of media policy debates in the European Union.
