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No. 217
Monday November 10, 2003 Page G-3
ISSN 1523-567X
Tax, Budget & Accounting
International Taxes
French President Forms Working Group
To Study Global Taxation for Development
PARIS--French President Jacques Chirac announced Nov. 7 the creation of a new working group charged with studying the feasibility of creating a global tax system to fund development projects.
Formation of the new working group makes good on a pledge dating to August 2002, when Chirac vowed to put the weight of the French presidency behind a wide-ranging study into whether international taxation could
provide a counter-balance to the ongoing globalization of the world economy.
The new working group is led by French Finance Ministry official Jean-Pierre Landau, and counts members including government
officials, private sector executives, top economists, representatives of multilateral institutions including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank, and nongovernmental
organizations in the development sector.
Notable among the NGO participants is ATTAC, a French anti-globalization group that leads the international campaign for imposition of a so-called Tobin Tax on
cross-border financial transactions to fund development.
Pressure for International Community
While Chirac and other French officials have pointed out a number of economic and practical
difficulties surrounding implementation of the Tobin Tax at the global level, the French political establishment appears united in its desire to press the international community for greater action on the issue of
development funding.
"Faced with the scale of needs and the urgent short-term deadlines, it seems necessary to reflect on the possibility of new international financial contributions to reduce poverty, boost
development, and finance global public goods, like the environment, public health, or rare resources," Chirac said in a mission letter to Landau.
Chirac called on the working group to present its
report, including recommendations for further action at the international level, within six months.
Further information on the new French working group on international taxation for development financing is
available at http://www.elysee.fr.
By Lawrence J. Speer
Copyright © 2003 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.
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