The bloc is considering a levy on banks to insure them against the cost of any future bailout and is also studying a financial transaction tax, even though G20 leaders failed to agree on either plan in June.
"We are pushing for a political agreement by the end of the year," Reynders told Italy's La Stampa newspaper when asked about his plans for a bank tax.
"If we are talking about financial transactions, we believe this ought to concentrate on ultra-rapid movements that don't generate real value, such as short-selling," said Reynders, finance minister in the outgoing government. Coalition talks are under way following last month's parliamentary election.
A transaction tax ought not to touch traditional savings such as bank deposits, he said.
In addition, there is a need for caution over imposing new taxes on banks, given the arrival of new requirements under international Basel III capital rules.
"We can go and hit banks on their own funds but let's not forget that it is banks that finance the economy. There needs to be a balance," he said.
EU leaders told their finance ministers in May to work out details of the banking levy. The EU's executive has said it will study the financial transaction tax.
On EU economic governance, Reynders said this had to protect jobs as well as the environment.
On public debt and deficits, he said stability pact rules had to be applied with the same rigour to all EU states and sanctions must be made more automatic.
Reynders said he opposed taking away EU agricultural funds from states which did not obey EU public finance rules. The European Commission has proposed such a plan.
Germany, France to press Brussels on transaction tax
Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday (2 July) that Berlin and Paris would call on the European Commission to submit proposals for a European financial market transaction tax.
"In the next few days I will together with my French colleague call upon the European Commission to submit proposals on a measure for a financial transaction tax," Schaeuble told the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
If such a tax cannot be agreed on an EU-wide level, consideration will have to be given to whether it could be possible for the euro zone, Schaeuble said.
Schaeuble said he would like to see reform of financial markets accelerated, adding that he expected to see agreements reached on higher liquidity and capital requirements for banks at the next Group of 20 (G20) summit in Seoul in November.
There was now consensus within the G20 that a restructuring procedure was needed in order to ward off the risk of large financial institutions becoming insolvent.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
