Euro crisis plan to harmonise taxes and raise pension age to 75

RAISING the pension age to the mid-70s and harmonising taxes across the EU are expected to be part of a joint German-French plan towards solving the euro area’s crisis to be put to EU leaders when they meet tomorrow in Brussels.

The proposals are part of a longer-term solution to the debt worries of Ireland and other hard-pressed countries, along with the threat to the future of the euro.

But the price they will demand will have to be negotiated over the next few weeks, despite Ireland not having a government in office to defend the country’s interests.