Schulz blasts Semeta over financial tax stance

Commissioner says EU-only tax would be “irresponsible”.

Martin Schulz, the leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group of MEPs, has launched an attack on Algirdas Šemeta, the European commissioner for taxation, for comments he made about a financial-transaction tax.

MEPs voted by a large majority today (8 March) to call for a tax on financial transactions to provide a new source of revenue for the EU and to help developing countries.

Šemeta said that he supported introducing a financial-transactions tax at a global level. But he said that it would be “irresponsible” to introduce such a tax only at an EU level, as this would harm European competitiveness.

Schulz said that Šemeta’s comments were “an unacceptable affront to clearly expressed democratic wishes of this Parliament”. He said he would write to José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, for assurances about the commissioner’s remarks.

Schulz said that he wanted Barroso to make it clear to Šemeta that “such behaviour is incompatible with his position”.

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