LONDON (AFX) - Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will oppose any proposal for a direct eurotax that comes up on July 10 at the first meeting of EU finance ministers under the Belgian presidency, Treasury sources said.
Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders, who will be president of the EU finance ministers council for the next six months, said earlier that Ecofin will on July 10 discuss ideas for a direct eurotax, a proposal he has been pushing as eurogroup president. But Treasury sources said the UK government opposes the idea, reiterating that any tax proposal requires unanimous support from EU states before being adopted.
Under the plan, direct payments by citizens to the EU's central budget in Brussels would replace the GDP-based contributions made on their behalf by national governments.