we know that it is very important to have measures to help citizens and governments go for energy efficiency
we now have some studies on the potential of tax incentives for energy and environmental purposes and the commission is preparing a proposal to amend the vat directive to allow reduced rates of vat to apply to certain environmentally-friendly goods and services
as set out in the economic recovery plan the commission may propose reduced vat rates for green products and services aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings in particular
it should be pointed out however that the commission proposal of july two thousand and eight already provides an option for member states to apply these reduced vat rates on services involving the renovation repair alteration and maintenance of housing places of worship and of cultural heritage and historical monuments
this includes work aimed at increasing the energy savings and efficiency of the buildings concerned
the ecofin today came to a compromise
it is too early to say exactly what we are going to do in detail with the ecofin proposals but the commission is going to study the proposals that were made today
