EU exec to propose financial tax, farm spending freeze

BRUSSELS, June 29 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose an EU-wide tax on financial transactions and a freeze in farm spending from 2014 as part of plans for the bloc's next long-term budget, EU sources said on Wednesday.

The European Commission's proposed tax on financial transactions aims to raise up to 50 billion euros ($71 billion) a year for the bloc's budget, but opposition from Britain and Germany means it is highly unlikely to get the unanimous backing from capitals it needs to become law.

"It is clear that there is a strong ideological opposition to the project from several countries, including the UK," one EU diplomatic source said.

Annual farm spending, which currently accounts for the largest share of the EU's budget, would be frozen at its 2013 level under the proposal, giving a total budget between 2014 and 2020 of about 370 billion euros, diplomatic sources said.

(Reporting by Charlie Dunmore and Julien Toyer, editing by Rex Merrifield)