Tuesday

28th Mar 2023

French ministers in transparency move after tax scandal

  • Former budget minister Cahuzac lied about his Swiss bank accounts (Photo: Parti socialiste/Mathieu Delmestre)

All members of France's Socialist government are to publish their financial assets within days as President Francois Hollande struggles to overcome a tax fraud scandal involving his former budget minister.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Monday (8 April) "wealth declarations of all the members of government will be made public by 15 April" as part of a set of new financial transparency measures.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

A cabinet meeting on Wednesday is due to approve the measures, with finance minister Pierre Moscovici cancelling a meeting with his American counterpart Jacob Lew on Tuesday in order to devote time to the transparency package and to questions in parliament.

Ayrault said the aim of the new measures is to "more severely punish breaches of the financial law and ethics and integrity rules, and to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax havens."

The measures come after it emerged former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac had lied about having Swiss bank accounts and that Hollande's own campaign manager was involved in offshore businesses

The revelations were a major political embarrassment to Hollande who came into office last year on a promise to run a clean government. His popularity has plummeted to a record low of 22 percent.

The opposition has accused Hollande of covering up the scandal or being too naive in believing Cahuzac's denials.

Meanwhile, the bad news keeps on coming.

Swiss RTS television channel on Sunday reported that Cahuzac sought to transfer €15 million from one bank account to another, far more than the €600,000 he admitted to have placed in an undeclared foreign account.

Cahuzac's lawyers denied the report.

Foreign minister Laurent Fabius has also denied a newspaper story that he may have a Swiss account and said he would sue for "false and slanderous information."

In a survey published Sunday in Journal du Dimanche, three in five respondents said they were in favour of a government reshuffle over the scandal.

Hollande so far has held firm on reshuffling calls. But one of his ministers admitted that "we will probably have to have a reshuffle, but not right away," Reuters reports.

France in turmoil over tax-dodging minister

The scandal over France's tax-evading budget minister is threatening to engulf Hollande's government, which had promised an "irreproachable republic."

Top five EU states push for tax transparency

France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have agreed new measures to fight tax fraud, putting pressure on Austria and Luxembourg to stop blocking an EU-level law.

MEPs press EU Commission over Qatari-paid business-class flights

Pro-transparency MEPs are asking probing questions into possible conflict of interest between a senior EU commission official and Qatar, following revelations his business class trips were paid by Doha while negotiating a market access deal for its national airline.

Opinion

Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity

From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. Dear EU, the science is clear: burning wood for energy is bad
  2. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  3. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  4. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict
  5. Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all
  6. Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
  7. EU leaders agree 1m artillery shells for Ukraine
  8. Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us