§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to the European Commission proposal for an international air transport tax to finance aid and development; and whether such a tax would be an effective and more workable alternative to the currency transactions tax. [HL4375]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Government are committed to exploring the full range of options for increasing the amount of finance available for development purposes. However, as the Commission's February 2002 reportResponses to the Challenges of Globalisation made clear, there are a number of practical issues such as coverage and enforcement that would need to be resolved before any of these proposals could become feasible. International initiatives such as these, which require co-ordinated implementation, rely ultimately on the political will of many national governments to make them work.