French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans to introduce a tax on
financial transactions.
The 0.1% levy will be introduced in August regardless of whether other European
countries follow suit.
The tax is part of a package of measures set out by the president to promote
growth and create jobs.
Mr Sarkozy faces a presidential election in April, but is currently trailing in
the opinion polls behind his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande.
In an interview with French television, Mr Sarkozy said he hoped the tax would
push other countries to take action.
"What we want to do is create a shockwave and set an example that there is
absolutely no reason why those who helped bring about the crisis shouldn't pay
to restore the finances," he said.
"We hope the tax will generate one billion euros ($1.3bn, 0.8bn) of new income
and and thus cut our budget deficit."
Mr Sarkozy gave no further details on the tax, but a government source later
told Reuters news agency it would target shares and not bonds.
French and German proposals for an EU-wide financial transaction tax were among
the reasons the British Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed EU treaty changes
at a summit in Brussels in December.
Mr Cameron argued that such a tax would penalise the City of London where 75%
of European financial transactions take place.
Competitiveness
Among the other measures announced by Mr Sarkozy are an increase in sales tax
of 1.6% which will be used to fund a reduction in the charges paid to the
government by employers.
The intention is to create employment and discourage industry from moving
abroad.
The president also said that labour laws would be freed up to allow companies
and trades unions to negotiate on pay and conditions at a local level.
This measure appears intended to end the 35-hour working week for which France
has often been criticised by economists.
All these ideas on restoring French competitiveness are directly inspired by
Germany, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris.
Mr Sarkozy is reportedly hoping to rush the measure through the French
parliament before the presidential vote.
However, with the election less than three months away and Mr Sarkozy a long
way behind Mr Hollande in the opinion polls it is far from clear whether these
ideas will ever see the light of day, our correspondent adds.
President Sarkozy received a boost on Saturday from Germany's governing
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which said that Chancellor Angela Merkel
would appear at French election rallies to give her backing to Mr Sarkozy's
campaign.