The European Parliament voted on 23 May in favour of a financial transaction tax, with a vote of 487 out of 685 in favour. The vote came hours before EU leaders will discuss at an informal growth summit the possibility of introducing such a tax.

“EU leaders meeting today cannot afford to ignore this overwhelming vote in favour of an EU-wide tax on financial transactions,” Nicolas Mombrial, Oxfam’s EU policy advisor said. “Latest polls show two-thirds of Europ...