Brussels, 18/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - France wants “substantial” draft legislation to be on the table before the European elections for the planned financial transactions tax (FTT) that eleven EU member states want to introduce using the enhanced cooperation mechanism (see EUROPE 10766), stated French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on the fringes of the Ecofin Council on Tuesday 18 February, the day before a Franco-German Economic Council (FGEC) that he hoped would come up with a common Franco-German position on the subject.
Moscovici said that work was still needed to come up with a compromise based on the draft legislation unveiled by the European Commission a year ago (an FTT of 0.1% on shares and bonds and 0.01% on derivatives), which is generating strong resistance in financial circles and reservations in some participating member states (like France), which fear that business may up sticks and move to London or outside the EU. Moscovici said that there was desire to make progress nonetheless (the eleven finance ministers in question met up on Tuesday to discuss the FTT on the fringes of the Ecofin Council) and said that France wanted an “ambitious” tax that did not encourage a flight of capital. He added that, in order to generate real income, it had to be made clear exactly how the tax would be levied, and this is what they would be working on.
It is known that the main areas of concern for France and other participating governments is about whether all derivatives should be included. Acknowledging the deadlock and the urgent need to make progress, EU Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta told the European Parliament on 4 February that it was better to encourage what is do-able rather than be determined to do something that is not possible. Various European bodies and MEPs are encouraging the eleven governments, however, to stand firm against the financial lobbying and levy the FTT on all financial assets and derivatives across the board. (FG/transl.fl)