The citizens will love it

FOR a while, the idea seemed to be gathering support. At present, about 14% of the European Union's budget of euro93 billion ($86 billion) comes from customs duties; the rest, on formulae beyond most human understanding, from national treasuries. But recently, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, a number of European grandees have come out for, or at least for looking at, a switch to a specifically EU tax. Among those in favour have been Romano Prodi, the head of the European Commission; Hans Eichel, Germany's finance minister; Laurent Fabius, his French counterpart; and the prime ministers of Belgium and Luxembourg. The European Parliament's budget committee too is in favour, and reckons the parliament should set the tax rate.