German Finance Minister Wolgang Schaeuble is a great man. And great men have great plans. Especially when it comes to charge others with taxes.
German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Saturday, that FinMin Schaeuble and the European Commission were mulling a pan-European levy in order to cope with the Refugees Crisis. This levy could be raised through a surcharge on petroleum tax or by increasing Value Added Tax (VAT). The height of the levy was not clear yet and the revenues would flow directly into the cash registers of the European Commission.
I want YOUR Money
The newspaper said additional funds from a solidarity tax would be used to help EU member states, such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, secure their borders, as well as to help improve living condition in the home countries of asylum seekers to encourage their citizens to remain there.
The Sueddeutsche’s report cited no sources, and was datelined Lima, Peru, where Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was attending an International Monetary Fund meeting.
German FinMin Schaeuble reportedly said that additional European funding were needed in order to support EU States with external borders in the border security and in the countries of origin of refugees to improve living conditions.” Ok, he did not use the word “tax” or “levy” but SZ knows better …
In Lima, when asked by reporters about the European solidarity tax idea, Schaeuble replied: “It is a question for the European Commission, and therefore I feel I should limit myself to what I have already said: ‘I think the management of this task (handling the refugee influx) has the highest priority’.”
He also taught a lesson to journalists claiming “You should never ask such a question to a Finance Minister.”
He added: “In Germany we have fiscal space … others in Europe probably don’t have so much, and nonetheless the problem must be solved.”
Everybody knows that there is no smoke without fire, and the newspaper said that the talks between Berlin and Brussels were at “informal stage.”
Panic! Suddely both German and EC officials realized that a broader tax on fuel or V.A.T. would affect all groups of any society in any country and most likely they realized also that this could trigger broader and ugly reactions among the far-rights in several EU countries and even risk their rise.
By Saturday evening – Lima or Brussels time makes no difference – both German and EC officials denied the Sueddeutsche Zeitung report.
German government spokesman Steffen Seiber issued a statement saying: “The fact remains: we don’t want tax increases in Germany or to introduce an EU tax.”
Also a spokesman for the European Commission dismissed the report. “There is no such proposal currently on the table or under preparation,” he said, adding the Commission never comments on rumors in the press.
Despite the dismissals of the “rumors” I would keep a small basket and wait to see how this levy will turn into reality.
The idea is not strange to the German conservative way of thinking: 1. there is strong opposition within the German government – by Merkel’s partner CSU – to refugees policy and therefore Schaeuble would never dare to raise taxes in his own country in order to finance the refugees’ needs, the Merkel government loudly announced to accept. 2. everybody knows that Germany loves to relocate its own cost to others like in the case of German reunification & WWII debts write-off.
PS Schaueble + Solidarity = joke
What’s the problem? The use of fuel is a big crime anyway.
Never let a good crisis go to waste! That is what the EU has been doing all the time whenever there is a crisis in order to push through more ‘European integration’. France has proposed a common budget where national budgets are allocated to in order to be redistributed. In another word, communism. That worked so well in the Soviet Union and in Yugoslavia. We all know how that ended.
As for the refugee crisis, Schauble’s boss Merkel invited them in to cling on to her (welfare) tits. Let the Germans deal with the problem.
The Refugee Crisis –
According to The Crazz Files at least 15.000 army personnel, pretending to be refugees – have entered Europe.
Army personnel are PAID – their salary goes into the bank & they withdraw money, anywhere in the world, as they need it.
Who hired these soldiers & what is their mission in Europe ?
To hire soldiers is expensive –
I can understand completely why WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE need money & lots of it.