EU Leaders Call for European Transaction Tax, Der Spiegel Says

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is among European leaders calling for a Europe-wide tax on financial transactions, Der Spiegel reported, citing a joint letter to the EU leadership.

“We’re convinced that a financial transaction tax should be introduced at the European level,” nine officials including Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said in the letter to Margrethe Vestager, finance minister of Denmark, which holds the rotating EU presidency. “We would welcome it if the presidency speeds up the negotiation process,” the Hamburg-based magazine cited the letter as saying.