The European Parliament has approved the proposed introduction of a financial transaction tax (FTT) by eleven EU countries under an enhanced cooperation arrangement. Last month, the European Parliament approved the resolution by 533 votes to 91, to introduce a FTT in Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. According to the Commission, these eleven countries account for about 90% of eurozone GDP.

Having obtained Parliament's consent which was never really in doubt given the strong support already offered to the notion of an FTT, the Council now needs to get a qualified majority vote to allow the Commission to initiate enhanced cooperation FTT plans.

See the press release on the European Parliament's website at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/.