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To Prime Minister Charles Michel and Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt
Petition text:
The Financial Transaction Tax, also known as Robin Hood Tax, has been negotiated for years now by a group of committed European countries. The European population at large supports this proposal, not least because up to 20 billion euros could be raised annually in revenue to invest in social policies, international development and to tackle climate change. For this to happen, the scope of the FTT must be as broad as possible including most derivatives . Belgians demand a responsible stance from our government: please, do support an ambitious and effective FTT, and ensure the Robin Hood Tax is brought to fruition.
Why this is important
The euro crisis cost European countries trillions - €4.5 trillion alone in direct aid to the financial sector [1]. Our collective sacrifice to bail bankers out came at an extremely high human cost. Hospital budgets - slashed. School budgets - slashed. Social benefits - slashed. And ultimately: a steep rise in poverty across Europe [2].
Only now are some European countries finally negotiating a tax to be applied on financial transactions [3]. That tax revenue could fund schools, housing, hospitals, help tackle climate change and finance sustainable development worldwide.
Belgium is key in these negotiations, but under bank lobbies’ pressure the Belgian government is trying to exempt the most risky financial activities threatening to put the whole project in jeopardy.
Belgium needs to support an ambitious tax. If we allow some of the most risky and common financial instruments to be exempt, we’d risk to lose a whopping 50% of the tax revenue [4].
The financial sector is the most profitable industry on Earth, and it is under taxed - so it can easily afford to support progress and well-being. This tax, also called the Tobin Tax [5], will have minimal impact on the majority of the financial sector, and it certainly won’t affect people’s savings and mortgages [6].
If we want to make a big difference we should strive for a tax that covers all dangerous financial instruments - with no exceptions. The Belgian government now holds the key to make this happen: let’s let them know what Belgians think.
References
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/competition/recovery/financial_sector.html
[2]
http://www.inequalitywatch.eu/spip.php?article99&lang=en
https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2015-09-09/increasing-inequality-plunging-millions-more-europeans-poverty
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&pcode=t2020_50&language=en
[3] http://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk/faq
[4] https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.502746.de/diwkompakt_2015-096.pdf
[5] More info on the Robin Hood Tax Campaign here: http://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk
[6] http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-98_en.htm
Partners
This campaign is run in collaboration with 11.11.11, CNCD and the Robin Hood Tax Campaign.
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