Germany Opposes EU-Wide Tax

German politicians are notoriously bad on European issues, almost always pushing for more centralization, harmonization, and bureaucracy. So it is surprising to see that the German government is rejecting a Luxembourg proposal to give the EU a direct source of tax revenue. This may just be a case of a stopped clock being right twice a day, but it is refreshing to see Germany on the right side for once. The Wall Street Journal reports on the good news:

Germany opposes a proposal to introduce a European Union-wide tax because the bloc already has sufficient funds, the finance ministry said Monday. The comments come ahead of a meeting of euro-zone and EU finance ministers in Brussels later Monday and Tuesday. Ministers are expected to discuss economic policy coordination. Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden has proposed the introduction of a European tax, with proceeds going directly into the EU budget. ...The German finance ministry said "such a tax is not necessary because existing funding rules already ensure sufficient own funds for the EU." The ministry said such a tax would complicate the existing financial funding system of the EU, which is based on revenues from custom duties and the EU's shares in the member states' value-added tax and gross national income.