Battle over EU levy

Brussels – France and Germany have joined Britain in rejecting the idea of the European Union levying taxes directly.However, officials in Austria and Belgium have taken a positive view of the EU budget commissioner’s idea.With its own income the EU would be “fairer”, Belgium’s budget minister Melchior Wathelet said.Earlier, France’s Europe minister Pierre Lellouche called the EU tax idea “perfectly ill-timed”. He said the EU ought to be planning cutbacks now.The EU budget commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski, told the daily Financial Times Deutschland that he would present some options next month for direct EU taxes.He said the burden on national budgets could be eased if the European Commission were able to levy direct taxes.EU taxes on aviation, financial transactions and CO2 emission permits could be considered, he said. (BBC)