The European Union should proceed with plans to introduce a financial transaction tax even though other world economic powers have so far failed to commit to the idea, dpa quoted French and German officials as saying today. Supporters say a transaction tax is needed to make the financial sector pay for the crisis it created and provide much needed cash to debt-ridden governments. But the Group of 20 (G20) leading developed and developing economies last month rejected the idea on a worldwide basis. "Although a consensus could not be reached yet, we are convinced that the European Union shall pursue its efforts towards the setting up of such a tax that is both feasible and necessary," German and French finance ministers Wolfgang Schaeuble and Christine Lagarde wrote in a letter released Friday. They asked the addressee, Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders - whose country is holding the rotating EU presidency - to reserve space for discussing the transaction tax at an informal gathering of EU finance ministers in September. In that setting, "Germany and France will jointly make proposals for discussion in order to carry forward a European solution," Schaeuble and Lagarde said.
