"The European Union should come up with a common position... on options for the financial sector to make a just and substantial contribution" through such a tax, read the text of a resolution by the parliament.

If a global agreement is impossible, the EU should "elaborate its own strategy", EU lawmakers added in their non-binding resolution.

They also called on the European Commission to compile a report on the impact of the tax before the next summit of G20 nations in Toronto in June.

The idea of a tax on financial transactions, also known as a "Tobin tax" after Nobel laureate James Tobin, has gained momentum following the massive bailouts of top banks in Europe and the United States with taxpayers' money.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.