Johan Van Overtveldt (New Flemish Alliance) and Finance Ministers from nine other EU member States that want to start applying a tax to financial transactions will meet again on Tuesday morning. There is not expected to be any progress, however.
The previous meeting about this Tobin tax was in December. The meeting was planned for the end of January but had to be postponed. This was because of problems finding time in the schedule of the Austrian President of the negotiations, Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling.
The exact content of Tuesday’s meeting is not clear. The different country’s points of view haven’t changed, so neither Austria nor any of the other countries have submitted a new bill to debate.
The aim is to create a 0.1% tax on transactions involving shares and a 0.01% tax on derived products. But the member States don’t agree on the conditions. The Belgian government wants to avoid the economical negative effects of a new tax at all costs. His spokesman said the Finance Minister is capably debating on the government’s behalf.
At least nine member States have to participate in setting up this tax. There are six, so just over the number required.
(Source: Belga)
