Nuremberg - In response to the initiative by the German and French finance ministers (beginning December) to convert the financial transaction tax into a share tax, the campaign "Tax Against Poverty - Financial Transaction Tax" responds by stopping its campaign activities.

Father Jörg Alt SJ, who initiated the campaign in 2010, comments on this initiative:

"The campaign was launched by the Jesuit mission with three aims:

• the financial industry, one of the causes of the financial crisis, to demand a modest contribution to coping with the costs of the crisis;
• to use the proceeds of the crisis to alleviate poverty and the consequences of climate change; and
• to use the tax to make the trade in questionable financial products unprofitable and thereby to push it back.

The Franco-German project thwarts our intentions: It burdens the real economy and protects the financial industry. And instead of fighting poverty and climate change, it is now to be financed in a Euro zone budget. While Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had still advocated the tax for reasons of justice and strengthening democracy, the current Franco-German proposal is a slap in the face for all those who have been committed to tax justice for years. We cannot legitimise this approach, which is why we also support the cessation of campaign activities. But: "The next financial and banking crisis will certainly come - then we will speak again".