Commission backs Tobin tax plan for Europe

By SCOTT REID
Published on 24/10/2012 00:00

THE European Commission has thrown its weight behind plans from ten countries to launch a financial transactions tax to help tackle the sovereign debt crisis.

The nations, which include France, Germany, Italy and Spain, want to push ahead with the levy after failing to win support from all 27 European Union members.

The UK has opposed the tax, which it argues would hit the City of London hard.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday: “I am delighted to see that ten member states have indicated their willingness to participate in a common [financial transactions tax] along the lines of the Commission’s original proposal.

“This tax can raise billions of euros of much-needed revenue for member states in these difficult times. This is about fairness: we need to ensure the costs of the crisis are shared by the financial sector instead of shouldered by ordinary citizens.”

To go ahead without the support of all 27, at least nine countries had to back the introduction of the tax, enabling a legal process called enhanced co-operation, which makes it possible for only some member states to implement it.

The remaining countries that have signed up to the tax are Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Last year, the Commission estimated that a so-called “Robin Hood” tax could raise €57 billion (£46.4bn) a year, if it were applied across the EU.