The Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting will be held in Brussels on 21 March 2017. The highlights are:
Reduced VAT rate for electronic publications
The Council will debate a proposal to amend the EU VAT directive in order to allow electronic publications, such as electronic books, newspapers and periodicals, to benefit from reduced VAT rates, along the same lines as physical publications.
VAT reverse charge mechanism
The Council will debate a proposal for a VAT reverse charge mechanism which aims to contribute to the prevention of VAT fraud. According to the proposal, the member states would be able to temporarily apply, if they so wish, a VAT reverse charge mechanism to domestic supplies of goods and services above a threshold of €10 000.
The reverse charge mechanism involves shifting the liability for VAT payment from the supplier to the customer and therefore derogates from one of the general principles of the EU's current VAT system.
European Semester
The Council will discuss the country reports, which present an analysis of each member state's economic situation, the necessary structural reforms and progress achieved in implementing the recommendations made by the Council in 2016. Reports on 13 countries also contain the results of in-depth reviews of macroeconomic imbalances.
The Commission issued the country reports on 22 February 2017.
The Council will adopt, without discussion, a recommendation on the economic policies of the euro area for 2017.
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