The governments of EU member states are about to agree on the implementation of a controversial financial transactions tax to cover most of the Union, said French European Affairs Minister Jean Leonetti.

According to Leonetti, this is part of an intergovernmental agreement between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reports Euractiv

It will be up for discussion at the next European Council, January 30, with the new rules to come into force before the end of this year.

The European Commission had proposed the tax in 2010, recommending enforcement before 2014, as a means to raise additional EU revenue by controlling financial markets.

As such, it faced the opposition of the UK, whose PM David Cameron has at the latest European Council early December made it clear that Britain will not go into further fiscal and economic integration with the EU.

Cameron argued that the interests of the financial services sector, which in Europe is largely concentrated in London's City, need to be protected.

EU leaders have thus decided to opt for an intergovernmental agreement, rather than a treaty change, in order to circumvent opposition from Britain.

Sweden, which had a negative experience with a national financial transactions tax between 1986 and 1991, is also likely to be opposed, says Euractiv.

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle has in the past said that his country is supportive of the tax, but it needs to include all EU members.

On his part, French President Sarkozy has been among the most vocal proponents of the tax as a means to curb the financial crisis.

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