Why is this important?

The banks never gave us back all the 4.5 trillion euros we paid them in aid following the financial crisis that hit Europe in 2010 [1]. What an irony that the people had to rescue the bankers and speculators responsible for the devastation of our economies and welfare.

Our collective sacrifice to bail bankers out came at an extremely high human cost. Hospital budgets - slashed. School budgets - slashed. Social benefits - slashed. And ultimately a steep rise in poverty and inequality across Europe.

Ten key EU Finance Ministers are negotiating an agreement to clamp down on harmful speculation by applying a tax on dangerous financial transactions. The tax would raise money for public expenditure while discouraging the kind of speculation that helped lead to the economic collapse.

Even though these 10 countries have chosen to cooperate over the past three years and are very close to concluding this agreement, there is still risk it might not happen. If only one of the participating countries withdraws from the initiative, or imposes conditions for their own interests, we could lose our opportunity to make banks pay for the devastation they caused.

It’s in our hands to raise our voice loud enough to make our collective outcry unmissable. And we play with advantage because our community is made of tens of thousands in many European countries - we have the power to mobilise simultaneously and make sure each minister hears from its electorate!

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