The ten countries still trying to develop a financial transactions tax (FTT) will mark off another point on their map, in Luxembourg on Monday 10 October (see EUROPE 11621).
In June of this year, they set up two task forces to examine, concluding in September, two controversial issues on which there is still no agreement: the possible impact of the future tax on sovereign debt, and the implementation costs of the tax compared to the income it will generate.
NGOs put maximum pressure on Belgium, which is still accused of blocking progress, on Friday 7 October. One of the taskforces is reported to have found that the impact on Belgian public debt would be marginal. However, the figures quoted by civil society in terms of income for that country alone are rumoured to be in the region of €1.6 billion a year.
The European Commission believes that in its final implementation phase, the future tax may generate €22 billion for the ten countries on board (see EUROPE 11586).
According to several sources, the cost of implementing the tax for Austria would be in the region of €1 million. The figure is likely to be similar for Slovakia and Slovenia, with revenue estimated at around €100 million a year. These two delegations have not confirmed these figures.
Other tricky aspects are still to be dealt with at a later date, such as the impact on pension funds and the real economy. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)