Angela Merkel and François Hollande would like to know why no one else does.

Paris and Berlin have led efforts to set up the tax from the start, but it has struggled to get off the ground with only 11 European countries signed up for it and divisions over what products it should cover.

"On derivatives, we have the same approach," Hollande told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris, without elaborating.

Speaking at a news conference in Paris with French President Francois Hollande, Merkel said progress on the financial tax before the European parliamentary elections in late May "would be an important signal".

France, Derivatives see eye-to-eye on taxing derivatives - Hollande [Reuters]
Merkel: Progress on financial transactions tax by May important [Reuters]