European Commission Plans on Introducing New Solidarity Tax

The European Commission is assessing the possibility of introducing a new tax, as part of the European solidarity contribution, in order to fund efforts to address the refugee crisis. This is according to a proposal made by German finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, as reported by Sueddeutsche Zeitung Daily.
According to the publication, the new solidarity tax could be collected through an increase in the fuel tax or in VAT rates and the extra revenue would be added to the European Union budget.
These funds will be available to countries such as Spain, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece, for border security. Part of the funds will also be given to “safe countries,” for the care of refugees, but also to the refugees’ countries of origin.
The newspaper also claimed that the European Commission believes that the idea originally came from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, however, government spokesman Steffen Zaimpert noted that the government does not wish to increase taxes in Germany, or introduce a new European Union tax.