Herman Van Rompy, the first European Union president, is to push for a EU tax. Joining forces with the European Commission to institute wide sweeping taxing powers, the proposal was made by the commission's head Jose Barroso.
The new plan will be on the table early January, a few days after Van Rompy takes office. This plan would similar to the proposed "Tobin tax"- a tax proposed by a U.S. economist on currency speculation- in Britain which places a levy on financial transactions. The results would be a stream of income direct to Brussels and provide a solution to the international banking crisis.
Van Rompuy has not given any details for the actual mechanisms, but after the Bilderberg meeting- a group of bankers and world leader that meets in secret- his spokesman says Van Rompuy favors either green taxes or a version of the "Tobin tax."
The idea would ease the EU budget noted for waste and overspending. Van Rompy is quoted as saying before the Builderberger meeting that: "The financing of the welfare state, irrespective of the social reform we implement, will require new resources. The possibility of financial levies at the European level needs to be seriously reviewed."
The tax could reach to the consumer level, appearing on all shopping and petrol station transactions to fuel the predicted EU spending estimated at $200 million. Currently the money is culled from the treasuries of the member states.
Critics claim this will cause an anti-Brussels backlash, but supporters claim that the move would make EU spending more transparent.
After the ratification of the Lisbon treaty the EU has started taking a more direct governance role in European affairs.
Written by Seamus Esparza
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