BRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) - European Union leaders will agree on Thursday to impose a levy on financial institutions, but the details will have to be worked out by the European Commission, draft conclusions of the meeting showed on Monday.
"The European Council agrees that a levy on financial institutions should be introduced to ensure that they contribute to the cost of crises," the draft conclusions, obtained by Reuters, showed.
"Such a levy should be part of a credible resolution framework. Further work is urgently required on its main features and issues of level playing field should be carefully assessed," EU leaders will say on Thursday.
"The European Council invites the Council and the Commission to take this work forward and report back in October 2010," the draft conclusions said.
Europeans hope to build momentum for a global levy on banks before a meeting of leaders of G20 countries in Toronto on June 26-27, but there are deep divisions on the need for such a tax, its scope and what the money collected should be used for. Canada, whose banks suffered less in the crisis, opposes such a levy and Washington has also taken a different tack to Europe.
