Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-26-Speech-4-016"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070426.4.4-016"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this debate on relations between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation provides us with an interesting and timely opportunity to reflect briefly on what we can learn from the ancient democracy of the small, yet historically important federal republic of Switzerland.
If the Swiss federal tax system were well known to the taxpayers of the EU Member States, it would be a model to be imitated – as indeed it is – especially with a view to protecting economic freedom.
I would remind the Member States’ taxpayers that Swiss legislation is based on important principles, such as the principle of legal equality, the principle of economic freedom and, above all, the principle of the guarantee to property.
The principle of legal equality imposes the duty to tax according to economic capacity. Thanks to constitutional provisions, the principle of economic freedom forbids the collection of certain taxes on trade that would be prohibitive in the context of trade policy. Lastly, the important principle of the guarantee to property, enshrined in Article 26 of the Federal Constitution, forbids the imposition of tax when it takes the form of expropriation; thus the guarantee to property constitutes a limit to taxation.
That is what needs to be learnt by those Member States which, like Italy, still oppress taxpayers with their tax legislation and tax burden, which in Italy exceeds 40%. From this great historical experience, we need to learn the principles of economic freedom contained in the Swiss Constitution. Those of us from Padania have the good fortune to be the next-door neighbours of those free people of Switzerland.
Lastly, let us also think about the principle of freedom of belief, on the basis of which people are not obliged to contribute taxes to pay for the costs of religion if they do not belong to that religion, and also the fundamental right to express one’s wishes directly through the referendum on taxes. It is time to do away with the Member States’ fiscal dictatorship over taxpayers! Let the people have their say on taxes!"@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples