Thursday, January 5, 2012

But I thought Cameron vetoed it

In this case I am talking about the Financial Transaction Tax, unpopularly known as the Robin Hood Tax (though taking money from wealth creators to enrich a bureaucracy is not quite what the men of Sherwood Forest were about). Once again, we have news from European Voice and the Daily Telegraph that the tax is on the agenda and that Merkel and Sarkozy (particularly the latter) are determined to push it through despite opposition from Britain and Sweden as well as possible others. The one thing neither article bothers to explain is how precisely it will be brought in. At present I am assuming that it will come in under Single Market rules and that means Qualified Majority Voting. But they might think of some other way. In the past it was established that a new tax needs primary legislation by Parliament. We shall see how many of those eurosceptics will dare to put their heads against the parapet. Of course, numerous questions in the House of Lords in the past established that if a tax is imposed by the EU and Parliament votes against it, the UK will be taken to the ECJ. That will give the Boy-King something to veto, surely.

2 comments:

  1. Shouldn't we start calling the proposed Tobin tax the Sheriff of Nottingham Tax ?
    Given that reducing the costs of financial transactions was the USP of the Euro it is amazing that they'll get away with it.

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  2. Sheriff of Nottingham tax? Hmm. Good idea. We can go on: Charles I tax sounds quite good. We know what happened to him.

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