mr president i welcome the report on general arrangements for excise duty
i wish to highlight the progress made in the matter of purchasing duty
the original proposal if implemented would have restricted passengers to purchasing duty-free goods only in the final airport of departure before leaving the eu
in practical terms this would have meant that if a person went on a journey from cork in ireland to dubai via paris they would only be able to purchase duty-free goods in paris
this would have decimated the profitability of irish regional airports as many currently rely on commercial activities for the bulk of their income
this would undoubtedly have led to job losses
however this has now been addressed and accordingly i would like to congratulate the rapporteur on working to address our concerns
this represents a welcome development at a time when the irish government has introduced a new airport tax which will discriminate against beleaguered smaller regional airports to the advantage of the already congested dublin airport
in that regard i call on the commission to investigate the legality of this measure under eu competition rules
i welcome the report from mrs lulling and the commission
