"Tax is not the solution": Bruno Le Maire dismisses the idea of ​​a tax on the wealthiest for the climate

Removed six years ago, the ISF has not disappeared from public debate. This solidarity tax on wealth made a new incursion noticed through the economist Jean Pisani-Ferry, a time close to Emmanuel Macron. In a report on "the economic impact of climate action", billed at 66 billion euros per year, he proposes to finance the ecological transition in part by "an exceptional and temporary tax, based on the financial heritage of 10% of the wealthiest households, and calibrated according to the anticipated cost of the transition for public finances”.

Something to revive the memory of the “Climate ISF”, long demanded by environmental activists, like Greenpeace, and many politicians on the left.

But the proposal is not successful on the side of the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire. “Tax is not the solution”, he hammered this Tuesday morning on RTL, while welcoming the quality of the work of Jean Pisani-Ferry. The minister recalled that the government had no intention of increasing the taxpayer's tax burden in order to finance the ecological transition: “10% of taxpayers already pay 75% of income tax. Our goal is to lower taxes, because the tax burden is already the strongest in the world in France”, he assured.

If he joins Jean Pisani-Ferry on the cost of the green transition in France - between 60 to 70 billion euros per year - Bruno Le Maire has outlined other avenues of financing. “There are alternative solutions, such as greening existing taxation, stopping funding polluting activities,” he argued. The minister also wants to "direct savings on green investments" and finance the necessary transformations "with companies". Finally, he is counting on the “mobilization of banks”, and in particular the European Investment Bank, to meet the climate challenges of tomorrow.

Same story, or almost, for the government spokesman Olivier Véran, guest in the morning of France Inter. "We believe that the transition can be self-financed by the transformations necessary for its realization," he said, citing the importance of "developing innovation, [...] of reconciling growth and ecological transition". Regarding tax, Olivier Véran believes, like Bruno Le Maire, "that we can do it without". “The challenge is to get us all involved in changes in behavior and production,” defended the government spokesperson.

The president of the Mouvement des entreprises de France (Medef), Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, for his part castigated this morning on France Info "a Pavlovian solution of the French enarchy: a problem, a tax". The employer official considers that Jean Pisani-Ferry's proposal to tax the highest estates up to 5% is a "contradiction". "He asks companies to invest, but he proposes to tax capital, therefore those who invest in companies", he regretted.

Despite his disagreement on this question, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux welcomed the “positive” aspects in the report, in particular the defense of “more sober, greener growth” in the absence of a decrease. "There we agree," he said.