8. februar 2012, 15:24 – opdateret 8. februar 2012, 15:40

A group of nine euro-countries are applying pressure on the Danish EU presidency to fast-track plans for a financial transactions tax.

In a letter to Copenhagen, the finance ministers of France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, suggest they are prepared to move ahead on their own in the absence of full EU support:

"We strongly believe in the need for a financial transactions tax implemented at European level as a crucial instrument to secure a fair contribution from the financial sector to the costs of the financial crisis and to better regulate European financial markets," the group writes, asking the Danish presidency "to accelerate the analysis and negotiation process" of a proposal by the EU commission to introduce a 0.1 percent tax on stocks and 0.01 percent on trading in derivatives .

EU expert Peter Nedergaard of the Centre for European Policy at Copenhagen University said countries can’t be forced to accept the so-called ‘Tobin Tax’ as all tax issues require unanimous backing, and the UK and Sweden will block any attempt, but there are numerous examples of EU countries cooperating outside of the EU Treaty. “The free borders Schengen agreement was also formulated independently but later written into the Treaty with the proviso that countries could opt-out, which Great Britian chose to do,” he said. “It’s a method that’s been utilised for 20 years.”