The very rich, in Europe or the United States, are increasingly targeted by elected officials. After US President Joe Biden, who, during the presentation of his draft budget, stressed that he wanted ” tax billionaires and businesses more heavily to finance its “social” budget », it is the turn of MEPs to ask them for a contribution to the collective effort commensurate with their fortune.
A petition, launched by Aurore Lalucq (Socialists and Democrats group, left) and the economist Gabriel Zucman, which calls for the establishment of ” a progressive tax on the wealth of the ultra-rich on an international scale in order to reduce inequalities while participating in the financing of the investments necessary for the ecological and social transition “, was thus signed by more than 130 environmentalist and left-wing parliamentarians.
« What we have achieved for the multinationals, we must now do for the very wealthy “, write the authors in a column published in The world. They mention the idea of taxation at 1.5% from a heritage of 50 million euros, while affirming that the exact level of the tax will have to be decided ” collectively and democratically ».
They call on the OECD and the UN to launch negotiations on this tax, and urge the European Union to act.
In France, “the 370 richest families taxed around 2% to 3%”
To support their remarks, they cite the example of the minimum tax of 15% on the profits of multinationals, to which nearly 140 countries have adhered when everyone repeated that it was impossible.
They claim that in 2018, Elon Musk, then the second richest man in the world, ” didn’t pay a dime in federal taxes ».
In France, they add, “ the 370 richest families are actually only taxed around 2% to 3% ».
The petition was also signed by a dozen economists and by international NGOs including Oxfam, at the forefront of this fight. In mid-January, as the World Economic Forum in Davos opened, the NGO said it wanted toHalve the number of billionaires by 2030 and then ” abolish “ on the long termeach of them ” representing a failure of public policy ».
According to the NGO, out of $100 of wealth created, $54.4 went into the pockets of the top 1%, while 70 cents went to the bottom 50% “. And, in France, according to his calculations, 5 out of 6 French billionaires have become richer since the start of the pandemic.
In France, elected environmentalists want to ban private jets for “bring the rich back to earth »
The ban on private jets, which environmentalists will wear on their Assembly Day on April 6, aims to “ bring the rich down to earth by making them contribute to the ecological transition. ” This is the measure that penalizes the fewest people but produces the maximum effects for the climate and the atmosphere. “argued MP Julien Bayou, who will bring a bill with his colleague Christine Arrighi.
In a private jet, pollution per passenger would be 10 times higher
The two elected officials listed the “ dizzying numbers “of the impact of private jets, with which, for each passenger, ” a journey pollutes 10 times more than an airliner ». “We have people who fly Cannes-Nice to avoid traffic jams on the coast. »
« Explaining that it is enough to ban private jets to solve part of the problem, it is the ecology of the buzz and it is more a matter of class struggle than of ecological transition “, replied the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, questioned on Sud-Radio about the text.
« Private jets represent 0.1% of our country’s national emissions: France emits 400 million tonnes of CO2, private jets represent 400,000 tonnes. »
On the other hand, he said he was in favor of regulate them and make them less attractive than other types of travel ».
(with AFP)