“This should not be a recurring debate that we pretend to pay lip-service to,” GUE/NGL MEP Patrick Le Hyaric told the Commission during last night's debate on the need for the quick adoption of the proposed FTT.

 

The FTT has been on the cards for a number of years now but no EU consensus has been reached. However, the 11 member states who decided to take it forward have been debating the issue for the past year.

 

“Time is moving on, and if this project is simply emptied of all its substance it would mean our governments are not acting in a very positive way. This tax is not a burden but a contribution from the finance sector to the common good.

 

“The original proposal made by the Commission is a step in the right direction. It would allow us to regain 36 billion euros that would help us defend jobs, develop public services for the common good and fight poverty and climate change.

 

“Taxing speculation on a broader basis is a way of making sure that fiscal competition is also brought down because it is causing our economies a lot of harm.”