PARIS –  France's finance minister, Francois Baroin, said Sunday that the financial transaction tax the government is planning to introduce will hit shares and derivatives, but not sovereign bonds.

"It will tax shares, derivatives and bonds, obviously with the exception of sovereign bonds," Baroin said in a radio interview. "It's a larger tax base than the stock market tax."

A stock market tax, which had been levied in France since the 19th century, was scrapped in January 2008 by Christine Lagarde, who was then finance minister.

Baroin declined to say when the transaction tax would first be levied, but said that the government will decide in February when the measure will take effect. He added that the tax needs to be discussed with the German government.

Germany and France have been lobbying for a broad tax on financial transactions from simple stock purchases to complex currency trades.

The move has found mixed support in Europe, and the U.K. flat out rejects any broad tax within the European Union that could hurt the ability of London financial markets to compete internationally.

Without the U.K. on board, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not get the support she needs from her junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats, or FDP, who vow to only back a tax that is adopted by all 27 members of the European Union. But now, Philipp Roesler, FDP chairman and German economic minister, suggests that if the U.K. won't join Europe, Europe should join the U.K.

Baroin said he reckoned that the U.K. and Sweden were opposed to the tax, but said Paris was hoping to have at least 17 countries adopt it.

Baroin and Bank of France governor Christian Noyer are scheduled to meet their German peers in Paris on Monday.

Baroin also said French President Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to present a plan to overhaul the financing of social security, which will likely include an increase in the value-added tax rate, before the end of the month.

Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones Newswires