"We are going to tax a certain number of behaviors, mainly that which consists in using energies of fossil origin", indicates Michel Rocard, who chairs the expert conference on the Contribution Climat Energie (CCE). Barely revealed, the measure is already controversial.
Michel Rocard (Sipa)
Michel Rocard (Sipa)
Michel Rocard, who chairs the expert conference on the Climate Energy Contribution (CCE), or "carbon tax", indicated on Wednesday July 22 on France Inter that it should only apply to fossil fuels ( oil, gas, coal) from the year 2010. It thus confirms the information published in Les Echos on Wednesday morning. The daily indicated that the carbon tax on "fossil" energies will consist of a contribution of 32 euros per tonne of CO2 emitted from 2010.
"Basically, it is about that", but "it is an opinion: the government remains in control of its decision, which it will take at the time of the drafting of the finance bill 2010", specified Michel Rocard on France-Inter.
"We are going to tax a certain number of behaviors, mainly that which consists in using energies of fossil origin" responsible "for the greenhouse gas (which will) transform the planet into a frying pan and make the pursuit of life impossible on the planet ", declared the former Prime Minister on France Inter.
The bill will be around 300 euros per year "for a little more than half of households", he said.
Offset in terms of purchasing power
If "this is a new tax a little special, this drain on purchasing power should not be too terrible" for households, assured the former Prime Minister. "It is widely expected that we must compensate for that, but in terms of purchasing power, so as to leave the price signal intact, the incentive for people to travel less, to gradually have electric cars, to double windows to save on heating, heat to 19 degrees, "he said.
"These compensations are very partial", notes the UFC-Que Choisir, which denounces, Wednesday, in a press release, a "fiscal hold-up" consisting of "taxing consumers to lower the costs of businesses". "This carbon tax is nothing more than a social VAT measure disguised under an ecological pageantry," considers the association, indicating that it "will fight these proposals which, if adopted by the government, would constitute the worst-case scenario for the purchasing power of consumers ".
UFC-Que Choisir sees another purpose
"It is not a charge intended to improve the financing of the State", underlined Michel Rocard, assuring that it was a question of "modifying our behavior".
For the UFC-Que Choisir, however, "there is no doubt that the more the tax will increase, because it is its vocation, the more the State will capture the tax revenue to the detriment of consumers". The association accuses the Rocard commission of wanting to "use the tax revenue to finance the abolition of the business tax".
The association for the defense of consumers would prefer "the green check device where all tax revenue is returned to consumers".
Asked about the subject during the report of the Council of Ministers, government spokesman Luc Chatel did not confirm Michel Rocard's proposal. The former Prime Minister "must submit his conclusions on Friday" to Jean-Louis Borloo (Ecology) and Christine Lagarde (Economy). "Let us wait for the official proposals of Michel Rocard to react", he concluded.
(Nouvelobs.com with AP)
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