French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing Ireland to spearhead a new pan-European tax on US tech companies, Brussels media outlets are reporting.

Paris is pressuring Dublin to introduce the new EU-wide levy ahead of the start of Ireland’s EU Council presidency, which begins on Wednesday, July 1.

According to a report by European Commission-aligned outlet Politico, Macron believes a new pan-European tax on foreign technology companies, as well as other non-EU firms deemed to be climate ‘polluters’, will help fund the bloc’s forthcoming €2 trillion budget.

The French government has already sent state and semi-state envoys to other EU capitals to push for the idea, and is now hunting for the Irish state’s assent to get the proposal formally onto the agenda.

Ireland has been specifically ordered by EU Council President António Costa to come up with a new tax framework for the bloc that would see Brussels directly levy taxes and gather the resulting revenue.

Termed “own resources” by Eurocrats, the direct form of European taxation is being viewed by leaders as a preferable alternative to forcing member states to cough up more funding for Brussels.

While some countries are instead pushing for the EU to cut its coming €2 trillion budget, they remain in the minority.

EU taxes on big tech firms have repeatedly impacted the United States the most, with both the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act disproportionately penalising American firms over similarly sized European and Chinese counterparts.

Any additional efforts by Ireland to tax US multinationals is likely to illicit a furious response from Washington DC, with President Donald Trump threatening last week to implement a blanket 100 per cent tariff on any country that implements such a levy.

Macron’s proposed tax could also anger Beijing. While the French president had previously been trying to court China as an alternative to the US digital ecosystem, relations have since soured over trade difficulties.

Brussels has repeatedly accused China of “dumping” manufactured goods onto Europe at prices the continent cannot contend with, with the bloc opting to introduce Trump-style tariffs on certain exports from the communist nation.

Beijing has repeatedly denied the charge, accusing the EU of engaging in protectionism.

Any further attempts to penalise Chinese companies could further enflame tensions, with the bloc now at risk of starting trade wars to both its east and west.