mr president the g twenty is definitely a very particular formation where all decisions should be taken by consensus
but as our president of the commission and the belgian president emphasised the process is moving on and i will just address one of the issues namely the taxation of the financial sector
even if there has not been a breakthrough it was agreed to undertake further work on innovative financing under the french presidency
the european union stands ready to support work in the g twenty to explore and develop a financial transaction tax at global level
as i said the g twenty works by consensus and many g twenty partners do not at this stage share our view on the issue but we will continue to work towards a consensus
in the meantime we need to work on other ways of ensuring that the financial sector makes an equitable contribution through measures such as the financial activities tax
on seven october twenty ten the commission outlined its view on this issue and it will pursue the following objectives
firstly we must ensure that the financial sector makes a fair contribution to public finances
this is particularly important given the support it received during the crisis
secondly we must make sure that any tax we put forward offers real benefits and that it will raise substantial revenues without undermining eu competitiveness
thirdly we must ensure that the patchwork of divergent national financial sector taxes does not create new obstacles to the single market
on this basis the commission has set out a two-pronged approach to financial sector taxation
a financial activities tax appears the best way to deal with the issue in the eu
taxing the profits and wages of the financial sector could ensure that it is taxed fairly while also generating much-needed revenues
in addition a financial activities tax could be less prone to the risks to eu competitiveness that other taxation tools would pose if introduced unilaterally
a financial transaction tax should be promoted at global level
an international transaction tax on the globalised financial sector is the best way to fund international objectives in areas such as development aid and climate change
with the right choice of tax and its proper implementation we could have an important new source of revenues while still maintaining our competitiveness
the commission aims to continue to work on these options in order to bring forward policy initiatives in twenty eleven
the first step will be an impact assessment on financial sector taxation covering the ideas we have set out
in this respect we will also take account of member states analysis
the assessment of the cumulative impact on the financial sector institutions of new regulation possible bank levies and taxes will be important before launching any proposal
from my side i would also mention something that is very important the g twenty very clearly took development policy objectives into its agenda
i believe it is a good sign that the g twenty process with proper determination on the part of the european union could deliver benefits in the interest of citizens
