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"EU countries want to impose tax on financial transactions", headlines Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Munich daily reports that finance ministers from nine countries — Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Greece and Italy — have addressed a joint letter to the Danish Presidency of the EU requesting that it "overcome all obstacles” to the implementation of a Tobin tax by July 2012. According to the ministers, the measure would create —
… a crucial instrument to guarantee a fair contribution from the financial sector to the cost of the financial crisis.
The initiative is not unprecedented. The European Commission already proposed a duty on transactions involving shares, derivatives and other financial products last September, which met with immediate opposition from the United Kingdom and Sweden. This time around, the ministers point out that they are willing to seek “alternatives” if a solution has not been planned within the next six months — a remark, which SZ believes is evidence of an important development "if you read between the lines” -
The nine signatories send a very clear message: we can go it alone. [According to the provisions of EU treaties] states can enter into agreement for reinforced cooperation if they come together in a group of no less than nine. That is why this short letter reads almost like a heavy-handed threat to colleagues who have yet to make up their minds. All those concerned have been warned: the overwhelming likelihood is that the tax will be introduced.
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Finally the daily notes that the letter will also have an internal impact on signatory countries, notably France and Germany: it will enable Nicolas Sarkozy to aspire to more votes in presidential elections in April and May, and give Angela Merkel something to offer the Geman opposition, which made the introduction of a Tobin tax a condition for its endorsement of the fiscal compact.
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