As part of the Cannes Yachting Festival, the EBI (European Boating Industry) held an Executive Committee meeting last September 12 where the main challenges in taxation facing the Nautical Industry in Europe were addressed.
Miguel Ángel Serra and Carlos Sanlorenzo highlighted the need to strengthen the representation of the Nautical Industry in Brussels through a strong dialogue that can recommend and influence decisions taken in Europe and that can affect the sector. A task that today nobody is doing in the European Commission, in the European Council, or in the Council of the European Union, and that would be very wise to channel through the EBI.
During the interventions of Miguel Ángel Serra and Carlos Sanlorenzo, they also addressed the major differences that exist in the Nauticial Industry in relation to issues that are largely dependent on Brussels, amongst them:
a) The VAT rate(1) applicable to services such as moorings or charter fees.
b) The different interpretations in the European Union of the exemption (duty free fuel) from the excise duty on oils(2) in the nautical charter activity. This tax accounts for approximately one third of the cost of fuel.
c) The application of the customs regimes provided for in the Union Customs Code(3) and their impact on important aspects such as VAT on imports on the value of vessels and recreational boats.
The approach to these relevant aspects led to the decision to create a technical committee within the EBI in the near future to deal with, manage and make proposals for the associations of the member countries, including the ANEN (Spanish Marine Trade Association), in order to establish a common tax and customs framework that is as homogeneous as possible between the main Mediterranean countries (especially Spain, France and Italy).
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(1) Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax
(2) Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity
(3) Regulation (EU) nº 952/2013 Of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 9 October 2013, laying down the Union Customs Code