EU Commission backs ‘Robin Hood’ finance tax
BELGIUM: The European Commission on Tuesday backed plans by 11 EU
nations to launch a hotly contested “Robin Hood” financial transactions
tax (FTT) that is tipped to raise billions for the public purse.
After moves to launch the tax across the European Union were scuttled
during months of raucous debate by Britain and others, the EU executive
proposed that countries in favour, including France, Germany, Italy and
Spain, go ahead on their own.
“A core group of member states are keen to move ahead with a common
FTT ... And I applaud this,” said the European Union's taxation
commission Algirdas Semeta.
“I firmly believe that an EU FTT has great benefits to offer... I
also believe that now is the right moment to move ahead with it. Because
in difficult times, fairness matters.” Proponents of a transactions tax,
which has its roots in the 1970s, believe it will help curb the culture
of greed that led to the 2008 global financial crisis and ensure that a
bailed out industry pays its fair share.
“This is a once in a generation chance to ease the burden on European
citizens,” said Oxfam spokesman Nicolas Mombrial. “Countries which have
not signed up should do so or risk finding themselves on the wrong side
of history.” While Britain has loudly opposed the introduction of a
transactions tax in fear it would hit the City of London, Austria,
Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia have all signed on to
the scheme.
Late Tuesday, Estonia became the 11th nation to join the group,
Semeta said on Twitter.
The Commission said in a statement that all the legal conditions to
impose an FTT had been met, and that it believed the tax would not
undermine the workings of the European single market which seeks to
ensure a level playing field for all.
“This tax can raise billions of euros of much-needed revenue for
member states in these difficult times,” said Commission president Jose
Manuel Barroso said.
“We need to ensure the costs of the crisis are shared by the
financial sector instead of shouldered by ordinary citizens.” The
introduction of the FTT by a small group of nations was made possible
through rarely-used EU powers of “enhanced cooperation”, enabling a
minimum of nine nations -- one third of the 27 member states -- to
trailblaze new legislation.
This has been used twice before when the EU-27 failed to reach
unanimity, in cross-border divorce law and more recently for the EU
patent.
Britain feared taxing trade in stocks and other financial instruments
would move business to New York, Hong Kong or Singapore, harming its
status as the top European financial market. Britain lays claim to about
three quarters of the entire European finance industry.
The commission proposal must yet be formally approved by members of
the 27-nation bloc who will not be applying the FTT, and by the European
Parliament, before taxation commissioner Semeta can release a detailed
proposal on the tax.
AFP |