Ten EU member states that wish to apply an EU financial transactions tax (FTT) through ‘enhanced cooperation’ should be allowed to do so because all the legal conditions for such a move are met, the European Commission said yesterday.
EC president José Manuel Barroso ‘rebuffed complaints made by other member states – most vocally Britain – and said he was “delighted” that the group was pushing ahead with the plan’, the Daily Telegraph reported. George Osborne confirmed earlier this month that the UK would not participate, but said the government would not seek to stand in the way of enhanced co-operation.
The EC received requests from ten member states asking it to submit a proposal for a Council Decision to authorise enhanced cooperation. It has now proposed that the Council authorise the enhanced cooperation. ‘The Council will have to decide after consent of the European Parliament,’ the EC said.
Algirdas Šemeta, commissioner for taxation, said: ‘There are EU wide benefits to a common FTT, even if it is not applied EU wide. It will create a stronger, more cohesive single market and contribute to a more stable financial sector. Meanwhile, those member states that have signed up for this tax will have the added bonus of new revenues and fairer tax systems that respond to citizens' demands. I promised an extremely quick response once it was the Commission's turn to act, and that is what we have delivered today. I'd now urge the Parliament and the Council to keep up the pace and quickly give the green light for the willing member states to move ahead with an EU FTT.’
The EC has concluded that a common FTT applied by a core group of member states would be ‘both timely and beneficial’. It would ‘ensure a fairer contribution from the financial sector to the public purse’ and ‘create a more level playing field between the financial sector and other sectors in covering the costs of the [financial] crisis’.
Ten EU member states that wish to apply an EU financial transactions tax (FTT) through ‘enhanced cooperation’ should be allowed to do so because all the legal conditions for such a move are met, the European Commission said yesterday.
EC president José Manuel Barroso ‘rebuffed complaints made by other member states – most vocally Britain – and said he was “delighted” that the group was pushing ahead with the plan’, the Daily Telegraph reported. George Osborne confirmed earlier this month that the UK would not participate, but said the government would not seek to stand in the way of enhanced co-operation.
The EC received requests from ten member states asking it to submit a proposal for a Council Decision to authorise enhanced cooperation. It has now proposed that the Council authorise the enhanced cooperation. ‘The Council will have to decide after consent of the European Parliament,’ the EC said.
Algirdas Šemeta, commissioner for taxation, said: ‘There are EU wide benefits to a common FTT, even if it is not applied EU wide. It will create a stronger, more cohesive single market and contribute to a more stable financial sector. Meanwhile, those member states that have signed up for this tax will have the added bonus of new revenues and fairer tax systems that respond to citizens' demands. I promised an extremely quick response once it was the Commission's turn to act, and that is what we have delivered today. I'd now urge the Parliament and the Council to keep up the pace and quickly give the green light for the willing member states to move ahead with an EU FTT.’
The EC has concluded that a common FTT applied by a core group of member states would be ‘both timely and beneficial’. It would ‘ensure a fairer contribution from the financial sector to the public purse’ and ‘create a more level playing field between the financial sector and other sectors in covering the costs of the [financial] crisis’.
