European Union – Value added tax. Article 98 of Council Directive (EC) 2006/112 should be interpreted as meaning that it did not preclude - provided that the principle of fiscal neutrality was complied with, which was for the referring court to ascertain - national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which made the application of the reduced VAT rate to fresh pastry goods and cakes depend solely on the criterion of their 'best-before' date or their 'use-by date'. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in proceedings concerning two tax rulings by the Minister for Finance, Poland, in respect of the rate of VAT applicable to supplies of goods by the taxpayer company.