A European tax in the offing

It’s only rumours for the time being. Still and all, the debate over a direct European tax has spilled over onto the front page of Die Presse. Fed up with grappling year in, year out, with member states stalling on payment of their EU dues, and egged on by a coalition of “net contributors” (Germany, Austria and The Netherlands), the European Commission aims to strike out on its own and levy its own taxes. According to the Viennese daily, the debate, likened to a “Loch Ness monster that re-emerges annually in the Brussels millpond, only to drown as fast as it surfaced”, is liable to last this time around. With their economies weakened by the financial crisis, “the aggregate indebtedness of the EU 27 could add up to 100% of European GDP,” the Commission warns. Faced with that spectre, the EU should either downscale its budget (currently €116 billion) or charge its own taxes. So the Commission is mulling three potential revenue sources: a tax on financial transactions, one on added value, and one on fuel.