Britain will be spared a swingeing new tax on City transactions as European leaders confirmed they will press ahead with plans for a single currency superstate. Eurozone leaders vowed to plough on with the Robin Hood tax plans alone yesterday as they declared that a Brussels summit next week will be a ‘defining moment’ in EU history. Nine countries yesterday vowed to impose new taxes on financial deals – which Britain thinks will cripple economic growth – but demands for all 27 EU nations to be included were dropped. In a sign that next week’s summit will usher in new measures to set up a eurozone superstate, Germany, France, Italy and Spain all agreed it will lead to a ‘clear medium and long-term vision for greater integration’. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the meeting in Rome: ‘The lesson from the crisis is not less Europe but more Europe.’ Spanish PM Mariana Rajoy said the leaders had agreed on the need for ‘a political, banking and fiscal union’. Italian prime minister Mario Monti warned that leaders may have just one week to save the euro with Spanish banks teetering on the brink of collapse.Source: The Coming Crisis
