The European Commission proposed the FTT back in 2011 to get a "fair contribution" to the cost of the financial crisis. When the proposal failed among all 28 EU nations, a smaller group sought a compromise under "enhanced cooperation" rules, which require consensus from at least nine countries to push forward common projects without the support of all the member-states. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain are still at the table.

On October 10, the 10 European Union countries pursuing a financial transaction tax met in Luxembourg, trying to break a stalemate on the levy. As expected, no results came out of the meeting.