EU ministers to hold last-chance meeting on transactions tax
Finance ministers from European Union countries that want to adopt a common tax on financial transactions will hold a “last-chance meeting” on Thursday to agree on the tax or ditch it, an official participating in the talks said on Tuesday.
In December, 10 EU countries, including Greece, set a June 2016 deadline to find a final compromise on the levy that was initially devised in 2011 as an EU-wide tax but has seen several setbacks since then and most countries quitting the project.
Representatives of countries still interested in the tax will meet to try to sort out the remaining divergences on the sidelines of a regular meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday.
Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling, the chair of the group, “will push for a decision,” his spokesman said.
“From his point of view it is time to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” the spokesman added.
At the beginning of June, Schelling said that if the discussions did not bring a deal in June, he would step down as chairman.
A European official taking part in the negotiations said Thursday’s talks would be a “last-chance meeting.”
[Reuters]
