The federal government will not impose new taxes except on trading accounts, Deputy Prime Minister Georges Gilkinet said on Sunday.
“We shall implement a global tax reform,” he told Sunday newspaper De Zondag. “The fight against pollution will be an important component, but the total tax load must not increase.”
Gilkinet, who is also Mobility Minister, said further that climate solutions should be linked to the socio-economic challenges posed by the novel Coronavirus crisis. “We need to invest intelligently and productively,” he said.
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Time is the government’s Achilles heel, the minister explained, adding: “We’ll soon be in 2024. I hope we’ll have enough time to achieve everything. We are in a government with seven parties that share positive goals: giving this country a future, guaranteeing a livable climate, creating sustainable employment and respecting one another.”
Gilkinet added that each euro that is invested must generate three more. ”That’s the only way to jump start the recovery,” he argued. “The Government will increase public investment to 4% of GDP. That means €15 billion for this legislature.”
This 15-billion figure has, however, not yet been validated. It is a request from Ecolo, which wants to invest, in particular, in the railway sector.
The Brussels Times
