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Please keep it polite but they need to hear our side of the story before steamrolling this tax through...
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/fiscal-stimulus-withdrawal-and-a-tobin-tax/66729.aspx
Fiscal stimulus withdrawal and a Tobin tax By Peter O'Donnell
17.12.2009 / 04:41 CET
EU leaders had money on their minds at the summit.
Unsurprisingly, at the end of a year marked by profound financial and economic woes, EU leaders had money on their minds â and not just in relation to funding climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
They endorsed the common approach developed during the year to financial market supervision, both at the corporate and macroeconomic level, and they agreed on the need to co-ordinate the withdrawal, as of 2011, of fiscal stimulus measures introduced in response to the financial crisis.
âSuper-tax'
Specifically on the financial sector, the tone was set by UK and French announcements of a âsuper-tax' on bonuses paid out by banks rescued from the brink of collapse by EU member states. The UK's finance minister, Alistair Darling, revealed the day before the summit that a 50% tax would be imposed on end-of-year financial sector bonuses of over £25,000 (â¬27,600).
As the summit opened, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a similar measure, perhaps extending beyond the 2009 bonus season. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the idea as âcharmingâ, although impossible in her country âthis yearâ because of âconstitutional concernsâ.
The Council more drily invited the financial sector to âimplement sound compensation practicesâ. But the support in principle for the concept was also apparent in its emphasis on ârenewing the economic and social contract between financial institutions and the society they serveâ. Calling for the public to be âprotected from riskâ, it gave explicit encouragement to the consideration of insurance fees, resolution funds, contingent capital arrangements and even a global financial transaction levy.
Merkel openly backed the idea of an EU version of a âTobin tax'. âWe also need a transaction taxâ, she said. Meanwhile, the European Commission and Swedish presidency of the EU announced that the EU is to explore setting up a financial transaction tax not just to provide for any future bail-outs of the banking sector, but also to support developing countries in their efforts to limit and adapt to climate change.
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, said that the Commission will look at a levy on âcross-border financial transactionsâ in a pending report on âinnovative' financing methods to support developing countries. âIf we want to help developing countries, we have to find additional sources of finance,â he said.
evletters@europeanvoice.com
Please keep it polite but they need to hear our side of the story before steamrolling this tax through...
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/fiscal-stimulus-withdrawal-and-a-tobin-tax/66729.aspx
Fiscal stimulus withdrawal and a Tobin tax By Peter O'Donnell
17.12.2009 / 04:41 CET
EU leaders had money on their minds at the summit.
Unsurprisingly, at the end of a year marked by profound financial and economic woes, EU leaders had money on their minds â and not just in relation to funding climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
They endorsed the common approach developed during the year to financial market supervision, both at the corporate and macroeconomic level, and they agreed on the need to co-ordinate the withdrawal, as of 2011, of fiscal stimulus measures introduced in response to the financial crisis.
âSuper-tax'
Specifically on the financial sector, the tone was set by UK and French announcements of a âsuper-tax' on bonuses paid out by banks rescued from the brink of collapse by EU member states. The UK's finance minister, Alistair Darling, revealed the day before the summit that a 50% tax would be imposed on end-of-year financial sector bonuses of over £25,000 (â¬27,600).
As the summit opened, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a similar measure, perhaps extending beyond the 2009 bonus season. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the idea as âcharmingâ, although impossible in her country âthis yearâ because of âconstitutional concernsâ.
The Council more drily invited the financial sector to âimplement sound compensation practicesâ. But the support in principle for the concept was also apparent in its emphasis on ârenewing the economic and social contract between financial institutions and the society they serveâ. Calling for the public to be âprotected from riskâ, it gave explicit encouragement to the consideration of insurance fees, resolution funds, contingent capital arrangements and even a global financial transaction levy.
Merkel openly backed the idea of an EU version of a âTobin tax'. âWe also need a transaction taxâ, she said. Meanwhile, the European Commission and Swedish presidency of the EU announced that the EU is to explore setting up a financial transaction tax not just to provide for any future bail-outs of the banking sector, but also to support developing countries in their efforts to limit and adapt to climate change.
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, said that the Commission will look at a levy on âcross-border financial transactionsâ in a pending report on âinnovative' financing methods to support developing countries. âIf we want to help developing countries, we have to find additional sources of finance,â he said.
