The discussion on the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) in the EU Council Working Party on Tax Questions, on Wednesday 24 February, did not produce any significant breakthrough and was rather a mere stocktaking exercise.
The Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council had organised this meeting in order to relaunch the discussions among the EU27 to reassess the views of participating and non-participating Member States in light of the current context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12658/1).
According to a European source, delegations generally welcomed the opportunity to revisit this topic in an inclusive manner. Some delegations are said to have also wanted to continue the discussions on the basis of a concrete proposal.
According to another source, there was, however, no great novelty to be noted in the position of the Member States.
The work should therefore continue between the ten countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) participating in the enhanced cooperation establishing the FTT, on the basis of the current compromise text inspired by the French tax (see EUROPE 12387/19) and with the prospect of an own resource by 2026.
For its part, the Portuguese Presidency is considering how to follow-up on this discussion. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)