BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers and officials met in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss efforts to recapitalise European banks and proposals for a financial transaction tax.
Following are highlights of comments after the meeting:
GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE
ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX:
'We resolved to determine soon in the spring whether (the financial transaction tax) would stand a chance in the foreseeable future.'
Following are highlights of comments before the meeting:
SWEDISH FINANCE MINISTER ANDERS BORG
ON BANK RECAPITALISATION:
'We should do what we have promised. EBA (European Banking Authority) has said we need a little bit more than 100 billion (euros) in recapitalization. We should stick to those numbers. They should not be watered down, we should not change the criteria and we should stick to the accounting rules set out by EBA.
'Which means we need around 100 billion euros in recapitalization. It should be strongly recognised that any watering down would be costly in terms of credibility. We should put that risk aside.'
ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX:
'The solutions that are going to be discussed today, the financial transaction tax for example, is a non-starter. It is a very efficient way of reducing European growth and it will increase the borrowing costs for indebted countries.
'That is a very inefficient tool and we also believe that mutual bank lending guarantees cannot be accepted. It is extremely costly for taxpayers.'
ON HIGH LEVELS OF DEBT:
'Europe is running dry on credibility and a solution to a high debt crisis must be lower debt. The responsibility for that falls with the country with high debt and that is obviously Greece and Italy.
BELGIAN FINANCE MINISTER DIDIER REYNDERS
ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX:
'We need this morning to make progress on the taxation of financial transactions.'
'It was impossible to reach an agreement about that in the G20 but if it's possible in the European Union it will be a good evolution. If it's not we will maybe do the same in euro zone only.'
'The Commission has proposed to put such a taxation into force in 2014. If it's not possible in 2014 in the European Union we need to do it at the same scale in the euro zone, so it must be possible.'
BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER GEORGE OSBORNE
ON FIREWALL AGAINST CONTAGION:
'We need to focus on getting the firewall in place. It is all very well saying we've got the firewall but we need to convincingly show the world that the firewall exists and it has sufficient resources in it.
'That is what the discussion today will in part be about. The euro zone needs to show the world it can stand behind its currency, it cannot just wait on developments in Athens and in Rome.
'We must also make progress here in Brussels. If we don't that will continue to have very damaging effects on the entire European economy, including Britain.'
SPANISH ECONOMY MINISTER ELENA SALGADO
ON SPANISH SITUATION:
'The feeling is unanimous right now that Spain is in a better situation. We need to keep working. The situation in debt markets is far from optimal. Our economy doesn't serve these differentials right now, so we need to keep working to regain confidence.'
AUSTRIAN FINANCE MINISTER MARIA FEKTER
'Italy cannot hope for external help, because of its size.'
(Reporting by Annika Breidthardt, Robin Emmott, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Jan Strupczewski and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck) Keywords: EU FINMINS/
(brussels.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)(+32-2-287-6830)
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