Franco-German letter urges move to common taxes

FRANCE and Germany want a new EU framework to speed up progress for common corporation and financial transaction taxes.

A Franco-German letter sent yesterday to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, also called for faster convergence of financial regulation and labour market policies.

The call for faster convergence alongside a series of reforms to counter the debt crisis suggests Berlin and Paris want to keep the pressure on countries like Britain to back pan-European regulation of finance and on Ireland to bring its low corporate tax rate closer to that of its peers.