European Parliament asks for a Global tax on financial transactions

clipped from euroalert.net Plans should be developed for a global tax to discourage excessive risk-taking by financial institutions and ensure that the financial industry pays for the damage caused by the financial crisis, says Parliament in a resolution. If a worldwide tax proves unachievable, the EU could consider the option of going it alone, add MEPs. Parliament asks the Commission to develop the transaction tax plan in time for the EU to present a common position to present to the G20 in June. The Commission is also asked to assess how such a tax could help stabilise financial markets and prevent a similar crisis by targeting "undesirable" transactions, which should be specifically identified by the Commission, says the resolution. The Commission and Council are urged to look at how the tax could be used to finance development co-operation and help developing countries to combat climate change, as well as at how the tax could contribute to the EU budget.

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EU: Prison of Nations

clipped from europenews.dk Nigel Farage, a British member of the European Parliament, was fined an equivalent of $4,000 on Tuesday for "insulting" the new European Union President Herman van Rompuy (r.) and refusing to apologize. In a memorable performance in Strasbourg ten days earlier, the Euroskeptic MEP told the former Beligian prime minister that he had "all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk": "We were told that when we had a president, we'd see a giant global political figure, a man who would be the political leader for 500 million people, the man that would represent all of us all of us on the world stage, the man whose job was so important that of course you're paid more than President Obama. Well, I'm afraid what we got was you... The question I want to ask is: 'Who are you?' I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you."

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