Budget 2023: Senate and government reject taxes on yachts and private jets
The left-leaning senator got a little angry after the modest “unfavorable” views of Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal and chief budget speaker Senator LRJean-Francois Husson. Environmental senators Daniel Salmon, Ronan Dantek or Guillaume Gontard, socialist senator Isabelle Briquette, even communist group senators Pascal Savoldelli, Cécile Cukierman or Marie-Noëlle Lienemann have actually just introduced numerous amendments that would tax private jets or SUVs . without getting a very detailed answer from the government or the keynote speaker.
“You propose to impose taxes, but we, on the contrary, want to invest”
The third salvo was true, because the environmental president’s request for an explanation on the occasion of the examination of the socialist and communist amendments taken from the Nupes amendments debated in the National Assembly on the taxing of yachts forced the group, Guillaume Gontard Gabriel Attal, to seize the microphone. “I did not consider it useful to go back to the previous amendments, because it was understood that there were two different views. […]a deep line difference,” the minister explained just after one o’clock in the morning.
“There are two lines. You propose to give taxes to solve the problems, but we, on the contrary, want to invest,” continued the minister in charge of public accounts. “I’d rather spend money on low-carbon planes or less polluting ships than create lower income taxes. We will hire a lot of civil servants for taxes that will not generate much, “said Gabriel Attal. Basically, the minister noted that the proposed amendment “does not affect yachts at all”, but also “affects cruise passengers, people who work for several years to pay for the cruise”. »
“We can’t ask some people to wear sweaters on a winter cruise to the Bahamas.”
Not surprisingly, the senator relished the sacking of the left-wing government. “These are the stories you’re telling us over there,” protested environmentalist Senator Ronan Dantez. “What you are proposing is the most modest tax levy with TICPE [une taxe sur les carburants], and not the richest. You must realize that as long as you ask low-income families to make an effort, you are increasing social tension. We spend our time restoring social justice,” he said. An argument raised by Cécile Cukierman on the communist benches: “We have a society that makes those who work feel guilty and consumes energy with complete impunity, without owing anything, even contributing to what they consume. we cannot be in society. and it cost the planet. »
The amendments from the left propose that “any yacht crossing French maritime space should be taxed for greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of whether it is registered in France or not.” “If you want to invest in the ecological transition, you need recipes: everyone has a fair share in proportion to their pollution, especially the richest and alternatives. You need to listen to what is happening in the country [pour refuser]. We are not banning flights, we are asking them to pay in proportion to their pollution. This is not a deterrent tax, but to provide funds to finance the environmental transition. »
Environment Senator Daniel Salmon prefers to admit to Minister Gabriel Attalla that “there are really two lines”, “one watching the yachts go by and the other wanting the future of our young people. He adds that he is resigned to repeated rejections by the government and the senatorial majority: “We can’t ask some people to wear sweaters in the winter while others go on cruises to the Bahamas. You don’t take the situation into account.”
“Don’t confuse ecology with class struggle”
Jean-Francois Husson, the LR’s chief budget speaker, insisted on re-explaining his position to his left-wing colleagues, “so there is no confusion”: “You have to live in today’s world. Today. For you, the car pollutes, the plane pollutes more… The measures you propose where we multiply taxes by 1 to 10…”
At this late hour, the speaker recalls a scene that marked the Senate during the same budget debate five years ago. Jean-Francois Husson was not the chief budget speaker at the time, and Gabriel Attal was replaced by Gerald Darmanin, but Senator LR and Environment Senator Ronan Dantez scrapped side by side against the carbon tax during the 2018 budget debate. , warns the government of the risk of social tension.
Gerald Darmanin later said “not to believe in the new jacquard” a year before the now famous yellow vest movement. “You still supported the carbon tax,” so five years later, Jean-Francois Husson… Ronan Dantek, before he recovered: “Not you Mr. Dantek, but a certain number of your friends. In any case, the keynote speaker would like everyone to tell themselves that we all have a part of the truth” and “with the victorious French flag to find solutions for the success of this transformation, to give priority to developing employment. . »
Vincent Capo-Canellas, who is on the side of the centrists, urges “not to confuse ecology with class struggle”: “You accuse the government of doing it for the rich and not for the poor, but I understand that the aid was going. The big rollers should be targeted. You will drive people away from ecology because of ideology. ” One thing is certain, in five years Emmanuel Macron will no longer be president, but we will still be discussing environmental taxes in the 2028 financial bill.
