Commenting on the announcement, Jean, a staunch advocate of an EU-wide FTT, said: “This breakthrough on the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) is a landmark moment both for the EU, which could become the first place in the world to have a transaction tax crossing national borders, but also as part of the movement for a global FTT.  Ideally, the FTT should apply in the EU as a whole but the task at hand is now to move forward with this coalition of the willing and hopefully convince other Member States to join at a later date.

“The Greens have long advocated an FTT both to help curb risky financial speculation and generate much needed revenue from an under-taxed financial sector for pressured exchequers. I hope that the Commission will take on board some of the recommendations from the European Parliament including the proposal for an ‘issuance principle’ whereby financial institutions located outside the EU would also be obliged to pay the FTT if they traded securities originally issued within the EU”.

Notes to Editor

1. The European Commission has today announced that a group of 11 EU Member States has committed to support the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax.  The support of 11 Member States means this group can now proceed with the proposals through an enhanced cooperation procedure, by which a smaller group of Member States can implement a common policy.  For further information, visit: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/762&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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