Brussels, 27/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament should not be an institution that gives the impression of wanting to water down or fracture the financial transactions tax (FTT) that eleven countries are planning to introduce by means of enhanced cooperation, by introducing so many exemptions that it ends up devoid of substance. This was the view expressed by Greek Socialist MEP Anni Podimata at a debate at the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee on Monday 27 May 2013 on her report on the revised proposal unveiled by the European Commission for the FTT, on which the EP is solely consulted.
The report beefs up the Commission's proposal by filling a number of gaps and making suggestions. It recommends, for example, that the idea of place of emission for application of the FTT be extended to derivatives negotiated over-the-counter, saying that the exemption for OTC derivatives suggested by the Commission runs counter to the aim of the tax covering all players, all products and all financial markets and would create an uneven playing field; and introducing the idea of the transfer of ownership (if no FTT is levied, then the transaction would not be enforceable) demanded by the EP, which the European Commission did not include in its proposal. To solve tax avoidance problems that might arise from the fact that only eleven member states will be levying the tax, the report recommends introducing delegated legislation and binding implementing legislation (without the Commission's discretionary power), along with the setting up of a group of experts in the form of an FTT committee, to monitor effective application of the tax by all participating states and suggesting counter-measures to tackle tax avoidance. Finally, on resource management, the report suggests that income raised by the FTT should be fed into the EU's budget and the participating countries' contributions reduced accordingly, to leave them extra cash for cleaning up their budgets and financing other priority areas.
A hundred and fifty amendments have been tabled by political parties, including the option of exempting various products and operators (sovereign debt bonds, pension funds, investment funds, unit trusts and others). The report will be put to the vote by the end of June. (FG/transl.fl)