Comment Neelie (Kroes)

[...] First, we should ensure that public policy, for example tax treatment, does not distort the developing market, does not "play favourites" between different technological solutions. In the current crisis, we should not discriminate against sectors that have the potential to create growth. So it's clear that we need to work to converge the tax treatment of digital content. Yet, currently, there is discrimination against e-books, which are subject to a higher VAT rate than printed books in the vast majority of member states. My colleague Algirdas Semeta is working on this matter. My personal view is well known: I just cannot explain why e-books and printed books are taxed differently. For the moment, in the majority of Member State responses to the Commission's Green Paper on VAT, we have detected a really disappointing level of conservatism on this point.