The European Union should push world powers to bring in a global levy on banks to “make those who caused the crisis pay,”Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.
EU leaders are keen not to repeat the experience of the last two years, when they had to bail out banks with public funds to prevent the financial crisis from worsening. The intervention left them with huge deficits, which will probably take years to be closed.
“Germany and France are very much in favour of making even more sure that those who caused the crisis pay,” Ms. Merkel said as she arrived in Brussels for the EU’s regular summer summit.
However, at least the Czechs are believed to be against such a levy.
The summit is expected to conclude with a call for the group of 20 (G20) leading economies to bring in their own levies so that a “level playing—field” can be kept in world markets.
G20 leaders, including Ms. Merkel and the leaders of Britain, Italy, France and the European Union’s permanent institutions, are set to meet in Toronto on June 26 and 27.
Thursday’s summit should “make sure that we approach the summit with the most united European position possible,” Ms. Merkel said.
