Ambitious proposals for a pan-European financial transaction tax look almost certain to be scaled back after Germany's finance minister acknowledged that the levy could be phased in slowly, starting with share trades, reports Reuters.
The tax failed to gain widespread support when it was proposed during the euro zone debt crisis but eventually won the backing of an uneasy coalition of 11 states, led by Germany and France.
Long-expected revisions, however, would mark a victory for banks and trading organisations that have lobbied furiously against the scheme and would reflect practical problems and political divisions over the tax.
While many critics have highlighted how difficult it would be to collect the tax, Paris and Berlin remain at loggerheads over the shape of the levy and whether it should apply to derivatives, which France opposes.
Last year, as political support began to wane, officials in Brussels started to look at how the proposals could be softened, considering a tiny charge on share deals only and a long build-up to full implementation of the scheme.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble appeared to back this approach on Tuesday, saying that a phased introduction would be better than abandoning it, suggesting that it could apply to shares first and derivatives later.
Read more of this report from Reuters.