The United Kingdom's Prime Minister, David William Donald Cameron, claims victory for feminists as his proposal of removing tax on tampons was supported at the European Union during the Brussel's summit.
The European Union agreed on the plans of the European Commission, its executive arm, on giving its 28 member states the option of completely removing a tax on tampons. Money Control reported that the proposals were for increased member state flexibility to reduce Value Added Tax to zero for feminine sanitary products.
In the Telegraph, the Conservative MPs that supported to end the tampon tax said that there is a possibility for the deal to be vetoed in the European Parliament and that it could be delayed because of plans to back a Labour amendment ending the tax despite the wishes of the prime ministers. But the MP's have vowed to defeat the government over the European Union taxes on sanitary products.
Uncertainty remains as to when this proposal can be effective. But the European Commission was able to confirm in BBC that it will publish its "Action Plan" on VAT in a few days.
There is currently a five percent VAT on female sanitary products such as tampons and sanitary towels - which feminists view as unfair. Eurosceptics, the opposition of EU, noted that the razors, which were mainly for men, were exempted from VAT. Reuters added that, Cameron fought for the inclusion of tampons in the 1970s VAT waiver of Zero-rating to the many essential items like food and medicine. Those products that were not classed as essentials received a minimum five percent VAT rate, as EU required.
EU has not allowed its member states from adding new items to the VAT waiver, but Cameron was able to persuade them to add tampons to the list.
UK's Chancellor George Osbourne has also pledged to spend the proceeds for the tax on women's charities. In BBC, he said "we'd use the money to benefit women's charities and we've already distributed £17m to good causes across the country."
"We'd fight for agreement to reduce the VAT rate to zero, and tonight all European leaders have welcomed our plan to do just that. We've achieved what no British government has even tried to achieve," Osbourne added.
