The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday ruled out financing the massive investments required for the ecological transition in France by resorting to public debt and taxes, as recommended in a report submitted to the government.
This report, commissioned by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne from economist Jean Pisani-Ferry, estimates an additional €66 billion per year, including up to €34 billion in public funds, for the investments needed to achieve the target in 2030. a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990.
To finance them, the document proposes to resort to public debt and to introduce an exceptional tax on the financial heritage of the wealthiest French people.
Asked about the creation of a new tax, the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu for his part estimated on Monday that it was “not a taboo subject”.
“The two options which are not good options in my opinion are the increase in taxes or the increase in our debt which is already too high”, on the other hand swept Bruno Le Maire at the microphone of RTL.
“We will not increase taxes, we do not think that (…) a new tax, a new tax is the solution”, he underlined.
On the contrary, the government’s policy is to “lower taxes (…) in a country which has the highest tax burden of all the developed countries”, he insisted.
The number two of the government mentioned four ways to finance the “very high cost” of the transition to a decarbonized economy, already advanced within the framework of the green industry bill.
It is a question of greening the existing taxation and therefore reducing the tax advantages on fossil fuels; to mobilize French savings; to have companies finance the transition; and to mobilize banks including the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“All of this should allow us to have the means to finance the ecological transition without worsening the state of our public finances”, assured Bruno Le Maire.
The report was released as Elisabeth Borne presented her plan on Monday to accelerate the decline in France’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
23/05/2023 18:52:54 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
