European Parliament Approves Enhanced Cooperation Agreement on Financial Transaction Tax

The European Parliament approved its recommendation allowing for 11 EU Member States to proceed with an Enhanced Cooperation Agreement (ECA) on a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). The approval now allows the European Union Member States in the Council of the European Union to officially proceed in seeking an ECA on a financial transaction tax plan. MEPs have long advocated an FTT to make financial market players take more responsibility for resolving the crisis that they caused and to discourage excessive risk-taking in the future.

According to the press release, "It is not a solution to spare the financial sector from a tax, the very same sector which is now even benefiting from the crisis." The text stresses that the ultimate goal should still be a worldwide FTT, and urges the EU to continue campaigning for it. The 11 participating countries are Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Click here to view press release in full (links externally to European Parliament/News website).