BRUSSELS — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has raised aid advocates’ hopes by citing a financial transaction tax among the policies her government plans to push on the European Union agenda later this year.
With the EU scrambling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic at home and abroad, civil society welcomed the renewed interest in the FTT, arguing the money it could generate — estimated at up to €60 billion ($66 billion) a year, depending on which transactions are included and in which countries — should be used for development ends.
Maé Kurkjian, policy and advocacy manager at the ONE Campaign in France, pointed out that both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Development Minister Gerd Müller have previously called for a European FTT to be allocated to development goals. There is a long history of debate over a European FTT, and “the idea behind this tax has always been to balance the negative consequences of globalization,” Kurkjian said. “The COVID-19 crisis has emphasized that this is urgently needed.”