European Union (EU) finance ministers on Saturday agreed in principle to levy a tax on airplane tickets to fund extra development aid.

"This will be a voluntary contribution which some member states propose to turn into a mandatory contribution but we are leaving this open," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who was hosting this unofficial meeting of finance ministers from the 25 EU member states.

Five or six countries were ready to go ahead, he added.

The scheme appeared to fall short of what French President Jacques Chirac has called for with backing of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder but nonetheless potentially breaks the ice on what might one day become a broader tax to help Africa.

The EU executive European Commission would propose a decision for ministers at their next meeting on June 7, Juncker said.

According to EU officials, the tax would be compulsory in some countries such as Belgium, France and Germany while other countries such as Malta, Cyprus and Ireland would give passengers the choice of paying the tax.

However, the ministers gave up on another idea to tax jet fuel after it won the support of only a small minority.

The ministers also broadly agreed to a proposal from the European Commission that EU countries should aim to increase development aid to the equivalent of 0.56 percent of gross national income by 2010 and 0.7 percent by 2015.

EU finance ministers are studying ways of increasing development aid in order to have a package of proposals that can be put forward at a United Nations (UN) summit in September.

The ministers are struggling to find ways to meet the so-called UN millennium development goals, which were set in 2000 and aim in particular to slash global poverty in half by 2015.

Source: Xinhua