Brussels, 26/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Going by the public statements of Europe's leaders, alternatives to the financial transaction tax (FTT) idea are starting to emerge. In an interview with Austrian public radio station Oe1, the country's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, said on Saturday 24 March that he still thought there was a good chance of getting the FTT introduced in the EU and was prepared to fight to finalise the tax, adding that if it was not possible to do that, then something else, an equivalent, would have to be introduced. On the same day on German public radio station SWR, the German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that if speedy progress were not made and if there were not enough backing for the European Commission's ideas, then alternative, equivalents would have to be introduced, like a tax on the stock exchange, with as wide support as possible. He admitted that it would not be possible to levy an FTT in Europe alone, however, hinting that Germany might give up the idea that it has been arguing for along with eight other member states, including France and Austria (see EUROPE 10549). The United Kingdom's opposition to the plans makes the required unanimous vote on the EU Council of Ministers impossible. At the 13 March ECOFIN Council, Schäuble said he was prepared to fight for an FTT in the EU27, saying he did not want it introduced by a small number of eurozone countries alone, as a patchwork solution of that nature made no sense (see EUROPE 10573). (FG/transl.fl)