There are three levels of taxation proposed to finance Europe's "historic" effort to get back in business.
Emmanuel Macron says the three areas under active consideration are a charge for non-recycled plastic products, a revised carbon tax, and a levy on the profits of the global internet giants.
France has already lost one battle in the war against the techno-industrial group known as GAFA, the acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.
🚨 E. Macron a menti droit dans les yeux des Français pendant son interview TF1. Le plan européen nous coûtera le double de ce qu'il nous rapportera, la tolérance 0 est loin d'être appliquée en matière de sécurité, et on ne teste pas comme il faudrait face au Covid19 ! #Macron20h pic.twitter.com/YOokR2hmxk
— N. Dupont-Aignan (@dupontaignan) July 21, 2020
Using the mechanisims offered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris has already opened negotiation with other interested countries, including the United States, with a view to ensuring that the internet majors pay their fair share of tax on the enormous profits which they make in Europe.
Those talks have stalled.
Uniting against GAFA
The French President remains convinced that a concerted European Union effort is the best way to force the billionaire businesses to accept their financial responsibilities.
Especially since, according to Emmanuel Macron, "the big players in the information sector have seen their profits soar during the Covid crisis . . . they don't even pay VAT, they don't have the same pressures as local companies and small and medium enterprises."
As part of this week's financial re-launch package, the European Commission has been given until early 2023 to formulate and institute a tax on the digital companies.
Non-recycled plastic will be taxed from as early as next year, though the details remain to be established.
The commission has also been told to come up with a reform of the existing carbon market rules intended to limit pollution.
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