Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-08-Speech-1-095"
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"en.20100208.14.1-095"2
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"Mr President, we need to overhaul the democratic process. As a young author and journalist, I used to pay 62% tax out of conviction, because I was convinced, and had the impression, that we were governed by good people. However, since becoming a Member of the European Parliament, I have seen what actually happens to tax revenue. Back then, we used to pay millions of schillings every year. What bothers me in this debate on the promotion of good governance in tax matters is the fact that we are not looking at our own spending, but simply talking about evil tax fraudsters.
Back then, when the tax rate was 62%, my tax adviser was Christoph Matznetter, who later became Austria’s Secretary of State for Finance. He told me: ‘you are from Vorarlberg, go across the border, to Liechtenstein or Switzerland!’ I did not do it, but others did. However, if, in the light of these experiences, you approach this with the sober and rational mind of someone who was not a civil servant, who was not an expense to the social security system, who was not active in any public domain, as the majority of Members here are, then you have to ask yourself how in all the world can I my save my hard-earned money from this wastefulness?
My suggestion therefore is as follows: let us begin at the point where we can demonstrate that a sensible administration will use money sensibly, that is, with ourselves. Why do we need another 200 new jobs? Why do we need to fund school skiing lessons this week? What is all that for? If you really want to take the fight against tax havens, the recovery of tax claims and the attraction of people to the project of the European Union seriously, then we have to begin with ourselves and show people that the institutions we stand for are spending the taxpayer’s money responsibly. Otherwise, we will continue to lose tax revenue, without any justification for calling those people to account."@en1
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