In his 2012 state of the union address in September, José Manuel Barroso reiterated that the EU Commission will not give up on its efforts to achieve a “fair and ambitious” financial transactions tax (FTT) with the assistance of those member states that are willing to participate in the process.
Originally, the FTT proposed a 0.1% tax on all bond and share transactions as well as a 0.01% tax on derivatives products, instantly losing the support of most member states - including Malta - last July. Other countries, including France, Germany and Austria, were still willing to introduce the enforcement of the tax, with France going so far as to implement distinct initiatives on a national level. Malta, together with other financial centres such as England remain opposed to the proposal.
