The European elections are fast approaching. On June 9, Belgians will vote to elect their representatives and two candidates were present this morning, on the set of the show Rendez-vous. Sophie Wilmès, of the Reform Movement, faced Elio Di Rupo, socialist candidate. The opportunity to discover the points of rapprochement, but also to discover some of the oppositions between the two parties.
This was particularly the case on a specific subject: the creation of a possible wealth tax on a European scale. European Socialists have even launched a petition for the creation of a tax along these lines. Which doesn’t really please Sophie Wilmès, who doesn’t appreciate the opposition between European inhabitants based on their heritage, in particular.
“We are no longer talking about taxing wealth or heritage, we are talking about taxing the rich. The rich. I have a problem, because we are entering into a dynamic where we are pointing the finger at a part of the population, where we increase the population one like the other, as if the rich were responsible for the majority of the difficulties that we encounter. Most of the countries which imposed this famous tax have abandoned it over the years, because. it was not effective, not feasible. There is a problem of feasibility which is enormous.she says, considering in particular that the argument of reducing competition between member states does not hold up. “Everyone will be able to define what a rich person is, an average rich person, to what extent, we will tax them. What counts, what doesn’t count? Your paintings, your jewelry, your house, your first residence? Your second residence? Isn’t all this feasible?.
Immediate response from Elio Di Rupo. According to him, this principle of tax on wealth is justified by the desire to achieve a form of equity. “It’s about being fair and ensuring that everyone can contribute to the good of society”he immediately says on our set. “For the general good: social security, health, pensions or other. What we are asking is to make large assets contribute more, from 1.25 million euros of assets, to the exception of the dwelling house and its economic activity if you are independent”justifies Elio Di Rupo, estimating that we will need money, in Europe, to finance defense, reindustrialization and climate transition. “The question is simple: who will pay? I don’t want it to be the most humble, the pensioners, the sick, the people who want to be alone who pay for all these transitions. It’s about fairness”.
Sophie Wilmès responds with another proposal: target GAFA, like Facebook or Google for example, instead of targeting those who have assets, advocating avoiding creating new taxes and touching state spending and working on the efficiency of the state.
2024 elections 2024 European elections
