“I have assured [him] that the government will discuss [this issue] as early as in the beginning of January and I think there is a 100-percent probability that it will decide to address the European Commission,” he told reporters on Friday.
Šemeta welcomed the move which will make Lithuania the 12th country to support the procedure that he had initiated.
“Lithuania intends to join the enhanced cooperation procedure in the area of financial transaction taxes. Hence Lithuania will become the 12th country participating in this cooperation procedure,” Šemeta said.
The tax should not push the prices of bank services much higher, he said.
“Competition in the financial sector is strong, therefore, the financial transaction tax, which will be very small, should not affect the costs of the banks that much,” the commissioner said.
The levy would help restore consumers’ confidence in banks, he noted.
“Large tensions between the public and the banking sector have emerged in many EU countries and this small tax should help restore the atmosphere of confidence between the public and the financial sector,” the commissioner said.
The European Parliament gave the go-ahead to the introduction of the new tax earlier this week.
