taxing the richest “deserves debate”, according to the Court of Auditors

To finance the energy transition, should we tax the richest, as recommended by a report commissioned by the government? “I would not sweep this proposal out of hand, I think it deserves debate”, answers the first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, invited Thursday, May 25 on France Inter. Conversely, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, does not want to hear about it. “Nor the increase in taxes”, neither “the increase in our debt” are not from “good options”he decided on Tuesday on RTL.

“I’m not saying we have to do it, I think we have to discuss it in the long term, it’s not about doing it tomorrow morning”continues Pierre Moscovici. “You have to think about the conditions: it can be that, it can be another type of tax”he says, while recalling that he is not “not systematically tax-friendly”. Whatever happens, “the issue of revenue cannot be evacuated completely”. In effect, “we will have to find these billions” to finance the energy transition.

This report by economist Jean Pisani-Ferry figures at an additional 66 billion euros per year, including up to 34 billion in public funds, the investments necessary to achieve the objective of a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030. greenhouse gases compared to 1990. “For future generations, it is an investment that must be made”approves the former Minister of the Economy, under François Hollande. “We need to have this debate in its entirety, as a whole and that no source of financing is excluded a priori”, he insists. He points a “risk” : “If we say that there is a cost of 35 billion per year, that you are not financing it by debt, or by taxes, you are not going to finance it at all”.