<
https://theconversation.com/calls-grow-in-europe-for-wealth-tax-to-finance-the-green-transition-216212>
"Slowly but surely, calls for a wealth tax to finance the green transition are
picking up in Europe, with a number of initiatives from different political
movements put the issue (back) on the political agenda.
In a September French parliamentary report, Jean-Paul Mattei of the MoDem
group, part of President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling majority, spoke favourably of
a such a tax to finance the ecological transition. At the beginning of the
summer, Social Democrat MEPs Aurore Lalucq and Paul Magnette submitted a
request to the European Commission for a “European citizens’ initiative” on the
subject. If it gathers a million signatures in at least seven countries within
a year, it could lead to the drafting of a European directive introducing an
“ecological and social wealth tax” targeting the 1% richest households. In
July, the commission gave the green light to the collection of signatures.
A study commissioned by the Green Group in the European Parliament and carried
out by the NGO Tax Justice Network looked at the potential impacts of such an
initiative. It found that a European tax on the 0.5% richest households would
bring in 213 billion euros a year, anything but insignificant.
This is all the more remarkable given the virtual disappearance of wealth taxes
within the member states of the EU. In 2023, only Spain still has one, with a
threshold of 700,000 euros and rates that vary from one autonomous community to
another. While it seems unlikely that such a tax will be reinstated at national
level in France and Germany – the two countries that were the subject of our
work – the debate seems very different at European level when climate issues
are involved."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
