27 January 2005 - A cross-party group of Euro-MPs has launched a parliamentary bid for an international ‘tsuanmi tax’ to fund emergency aid and ongoing development work in the world’s poorest nations.

Green Party MEP for South-East England Caroline Lucas, vice-president of a new parliamentary cross-party group on globalisation inaugurated next month, said the proposed tax would be levied on international transfers of capital rather than individuals and would raise billions for development and emergency relief.

“The human catastrophe triggered by the Boxing Day tsunamis has generated an extraordinary outpouring of sympathy, generosity and grief,” she said.

“The tragedy was a natural disaster but its impact has been greatly magnified by the underdevelopment and poverty of the countries affected. As well as the massive aid required to ensure the survival of affected communities, lasting solutions to this and future disasters require substantial ongoing international development assistance.

“An international tax on capital movements would serve two purposes: to raise serious cash for a permanent development fund to minimize the impact of any future disaster on this scale, and to deter the currency speculation which amplifies poverty by driving down currency values in those nations were disasters do take place.”

Members of the Globalisation Intergroup have urged fellow MEPs to back their plan to instruct the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and member countries to draft detailed proposals for such a tax to be introduced at EU level – and explore ways of persuading non-EU nations to follow their lead and implement the tax.

Five MEPs have sponsored a written declaration backing the proposal, which is open for all MEPs to sign. Like Early Day Motions in the UK House of Commons, the declaration is open for signature by any Euro-MP. If the declaration attracts the backing of more than 366 MEPs – half the current total - by the April 26^th deadline, it will become the official policy of the European Parliament.

Dr Lucas added: “The challenge now is to harness the outpouring of grief and sympathy we have seen in relation to the terrible tsunamis and build a permanent, lasting, fund for development assistance to limit the impact of poverty and future natural disasters.

“Individual governments have pledged to spend 0.7 per cent of their GDP on development – but most fail to do so and, in reality, development aid is falling. That’s why we need an international approach and I challenge the UK’s Euro-MPs to sign this declaration and get behind a project that could make a real difference to the lives of millions in the developing world."

Dr Lucas is a member of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee and an associate of the International Forum on Globalisation.