A deal for 11 eurozone countries to introduce levies on financial transactions could happen by May, European Commissioner Algirdas Semeta told an Austrian newspaper.

The tax aims to make banks pay back some of the money they received from taxpayers in the 2007-09 financial crisis.

It has been watered down since it was first proposed, facing opposition from the financial sector and failing to gain broad support from eurozone governments.

It eventually won the backing of an uneasy coalition of 11 states, led by the eurozone’s top two economies Germany and France. Malta is not one of the 11.

The pair have said they will push for an agreement on details of the tax by the European Parliament elections in May, a tight deadline given that it has taken years to get this far.

“Based on the latest German-French initiative there could be an initial accord before the EU elections in May,” Semeta told Wirtschaftsblatt yesterday.

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