The new Austrian finance minister makes a clear announcement towards Berlin and Paris: either the proposal for a tax on financial transactions is revised - or Austria gets out of the project. German savers would be happy.
Gernot Bluemel's only been two weeks in office, and even in one of his first major foreign appointments he has to deliver an unpleasant message. The newly minted Austrian finance minister takes part in the meeting of euro and EU finance ministers in Brussels and met his German counterpart Olaf Scholz in a small group for the first time on Tuesday morning in the new role.
The message that the ÖVP politician brought with him should hardly have been liked by Olaf Scholz . It was no less than an ultimatum: either the Franco-German proposal for a financial transaction tax is revised or Austria gets out of the negotiations on a tax on financial transactions.
In Vienna there is great frustration at how the European project on a financial transaction tax has developed. Austria co-initiated and significantly advanced the project at the European level after the financial and economic crisis after the EU Commission made a corresponding proposal for regulation.
"The idea of the financial transaction tax came up after the financial and economic crisis when you wanted to tax irresponsible, highly speculative behavior," Blümel told WELT. "It was originally about punishing investors who speculated on falling prices and state failures, making unethical speculative behavior unattractive and supporting the real economy."
The Scholz plan puts German savers at a disadvantage
In recent years, however, negotiations have increasingly moved away from this original idea. The final straw apparently brought a Franco-German proposal for a financial transaction tax, the Olaf Scholz presented in December - obviously not with the other eight EU countries agreed that also in the negotiations on a financial transaction tax had participated .
However, the Franco-German proposal has little to do with the original idea: it should be introduced as a tax on share purchases and sales. Other financial instruments such as derivatives are to be spared the tax, as are intraday trading and speculative high-frequency trading.
This causes frustration in Vienna: "The present Franco-German proposal, which Olaf Scholz also propagates, reverses the original idea of the financial transaction tax," says ÖVP Finance Minister Blümel. "This would punish the real economy and small investors and indirectly reward speculators."
"Austria cannot go this way"
The new government in Vienna, consisting of conservative ÖVP and Greens, is not ready to support this proposal, says the 38-year-old political shooting star. “Austria cannot go along this path. The current proposal must therefore be revised so that it goes back to the original idea of a financial transaction tax, punishes speculators and promotes the real economy. If there is no change here, we will drop out of the group of member countries that want to introduce this financial transaction tax. ”
If Austria actually gets out of the negotiations, the project threatens to fail. So far, a small group of EU countries that see themselves as pioneers have been driving the project forward. At least nine countries are necessary for such "enhanced cooperation", as it is said in the language of the EU treaties.
In addition to Germany and Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Slovakia have also been pursuing the project, which was originally designed as a tax on all financial transactions in all EU countries. Estonia has already left this circle; if other partners swerved, this could mean the end of the project.
Once again, the government is betraying savers
A waiver by Austria, which not only initiated the negotiations but also coordinated them unofficially in Brussels, would also have a significantly negative signal effect. In Vienna, however, the present proposal no longer appears to be an appropriate basis for negotiations.
"This proposal is exactly the opposite of what the Commission proposed a few years ago. 99 percent of all financial transactions are not affected, ”said Finance Minister Blümel. “Instead, the proposal makes it unattractive for small and medium-sized savers to invest in the stock market. That would be particularly important in times of ultra-low interest rates to prevent poverty in old age . ”
German investor and stock associations have also criticized the fact that the Franco-German proposal complicates retirement provisions with stocks and makes it much more difficult for companies to obtain equity on the markets. "This proposal will torpedo greater savers' participation in the stock market," says Blümel. “Therefore it has to be changed. If it is not changed, we will leave the group, as I have told Olaf Scholz. ”
After the Franco-German draft had already caused criticism in December, the Federal Ministry of Finance explained at the time that the proposed directive was exactly that: a proposal that reflects the current state of discussion and that must now be discussed further.
Finanztransaktionssteuer: Wien droht mit Ausstieg bei der Aktiensteuer - WELT