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Even if Germany were willing to sign up to pooled assets and joint tax collection, the old U.S. adage “no taxation without representation” applies in Europe, too. A body that could raise taxes across the euro area would have to be firmly embedded within a democratically elected institution at the European level. This would involve a huge transfer of sovereignty from the Bundestag -- Germany’s parliament -- and the German Finance Ministry to the European level, for which there is zero appetite in the German ministries.