25The Court has already held that the introduction and maintenance of reduced rates of VAT below the standard rate laid down in Article 12(3)(a) of the Sixth Directive are permissible only in so far as they are consistent with the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT which precludes treating similar goods, which are thus in competition with each other, differently for VAT purposes (Case C-481/98 Commission v France [2001] ECR I-3369, paragraphs 21 and 22).
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