Italy: Tobin Tax back on the agenda
(Rome 30 March 2007) The Italian government has committed itself to consider again the approval of the Tobin Tax in accordance with the electoral program of the center-left coalition.
An international meeting was held in Rome on March the 30th, called "Tobin Tax and other international taxation mechanisms - Italian and European reforms for a more fair world". The aim was to bring back the attention of Italian Government, Parliamentarians and media on the CTT in Italy.The meeting was attended by representatives from the Italian Government, Italian and European Parlamentarians, civil society organisations and international experts. A part from the technical discussion, several important political points were raised:
1. after admitting that the argument had been somehow set aside, the Italian government has committed itself to consider again the approval of the Tobin Tax as part of its program, accordingly to the program that the center-left coalition had published before the elections;
2. the creation of a commission has been proposed, in order to follow the path of the Tobin Tax in Italy and work on the related issues (other possible international taxation measures, Italian participation in the leading group on "Solidarity Levies to fund development", EU work). The commission should see the participation of representatives from the Government, the civil society organisations, the trade unions, and others;
3. the italian Government has confirmed its willingness to participate in the working group on CTT that should be established in the Leading Group;
4. two identical bills on the Tobin Tax have been presented in the two Houses of the Parliament. The discussion on the bill should start soon after Easter in the financial commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
5. the MEPs who attended the meeting were willing to try and pick up again the work on the CTT on a European level, and to check for the possibility to make some steps forward in the European Parliament too, starting from the reorganization of the "Tobin Tax group" of MEPs.
Andrea Baranes
Last modified
2007-04-03 09:41 AM
