The FINANCIAL -- Eleven European Union nations won the go-ahead from their partners on Tuesday to launch a controversial financial transactions tax, junior French Finance Minister Benoit Hamon said.

"An enhanced cooperation measure has been approved," Hamon said, referring to the rare procedure where a minimum of nine EU nations may cooperate within an EU framework but without other members being involved.

Britain notably was opposed but did not stand in the way of the creation of an FTT, initially proposed by France and Germany, then joined by Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia and in a later instance by Italy, Spain, Slovakia and Estonia.

As EUbusiness said, the 11 eurozone states will now need the European Commission to draft legislation enacting a tax.

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